For a few votes more: Jailbirds MPs on a song

New Delhi: With just three days to go for the crucial floor test for the UPA government there are no untouchables.

On July 22 morning, every MP's vote will count and parties are busy wooing the six MPs who are currently serving time in jail who will be allowed to attend Parliament to cast their votes.

The six MPs are:

Pappu Yadav: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP from Purnea, Bihar. The MP is serving time in Tihar Jail since February 2005 after a Bihar court convicted him for the murder of CPI-ML legislator Ajit Sarkar in 1998.

Mohammad Shahbuddin: Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Siwan, Bihar. Presently lodged in Siwan jail sentenced to life imprisonment in a case of kidnapping with intent to murder. He also charged with the murder of CPI(ML) activist Chandrasekar.

Afzal Ansari: SP MP from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. He is serving time in Ghazipur jail along with his younger brother Mukhtar Ansari in connection with the killing of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

Surajbhan Singh: Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) MP from Balia, Uttar Pradesh. He is serving a life term for the murder of Rami Singh, a resident of Madhurapur, in 1992.

Ateeq Ahmad: SP MP from Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh. Ahmed is facing trial in numerous criminal cases, including the murder of BSP legislator Raju Pal.

Umakant Yadav: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP from Machhlishahr, Uttar Pradesh. Yadav is lodged in Fatehgarh jail in a murder case.

These MPs are behind bars but not barred from voting and suddenly they are receiving political visitors in their prison cells.

But not all MPs think that their parties are doing them a favour. Some of them are playing hard to get.

SP MPs Ateeq Ahmed and Afzal Ansari want to vote with rivals BSP.

However, BSP MP Umakant Yadav will vote with his party.

LJP MP Suraj Bhan has no problem with the nuclear deal and will vote for the UPA.

The RJD MPs, Shahabuddin and Pappu Yadav, will vote along with their boss for UPA.

Meanhwile, the Left, as expected, has taken the moral high ground, slamming UPA for relying on these votes.

"We don't think that convicted MPs should be mobilised in this manner for the vote," says Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Nilotpal Basu.

The Congress, maintaining its stand, says this is typically Left's selective amnesia. "This is purely a parliamentary matter. This has nothing to do with the party or any government," says Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan.

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