The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, New Delhi

The head of India's ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, said Friday she was certain the government would win a confidence vote triggered by the withdrawal of support by left-wing allies.

The parliamentary vote, set for July 22, will decide if the world's largest democracy will have to go to early polls before the end of the year.

A bloc of left-wing and communist parties withdrew their support for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition after he decided to push ahead with a controversial deal on sharing nuclear technology with the United States.

At present, the Congress-led government has 225 assured seats in India's 545-member directly elected lower house, far short of the number required for a simple majority. Last week, the regional socialist Samajwadi Party with 39 MPs promised to vote for the government, and Congress is currently shopping for support.

"I have no doubt that we shall prove our majority and work to fulfil our remaining agenda," Gandhi told a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), as the coalition is known.

"Everybody is prepared for a vote of confidence," Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee also said.

Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who heads a party allied to Congress, also insisted that "there is no doubt that we will get a confidence vote in our favour."