The battle for numbers that will decide the fate of the UPA government in the trust vote today entered the last lap with its hopes hinging on abstentions and last minute defections from rival camps. Hours before a cliff hanger trust vote, there was good tidings for the Congress-led UPA when the two-member national Conference announced it will vote for teh ruling coalition while a lone Mizo National Front (MNF) MP Vanlalzawma said he will abstain.

Ending the suspense on which way the NC will go, the party chief Omar Abdullah said this morning his party will vote in favour of the UPA government.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has fixed 6 p.m. as the time for voting on the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is scheduled to sum up the government's position on the debate an hour before.

As the groupings for and against the government tried to rustle up the numbers, the fencesitters held centre stage amid reports eight to ten NDA MPs may either abstain or violate party whips that will help the ruling coalition pull through.

The target of 271 for getting the majority will come down in the event of abstentions setting the stage for a photo finish in which the Manmohan Singh government may just scrape through.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee also announced that six MPs has sought leave of absence which has been granted that will bring down the target to sail through. The party affiliations were however not disclosed.

Soon after Lok Sabha reconvened after lunch Tuesday and listened to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Chatterjee said: "PM will speak at 5 p.m. and voting will be at 6 p.m."

Possibly sniffing a triumph, a more confident Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flashed another victory sign and thumbs up as he strode confidently into the Lok Sabha this morning to attend the proceedings.

The UPA however was not without any anxious moments when Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh alleged that six party MPs were being forcibly kept by BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Mayawati in the UP bhavan here ahead of the trust vote. The Samajwadi has a strength of 38 MPs that will largely help the government to sail through.

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