NEW DELHI - THE head of India's ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, said on 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.

'I have no doubt that we shall prove our majority and work to fulfil our remaining agenda,' Ms 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.' Dr Singh and US President George W. Bush in 2005 unveiled the agreement to share civilian nuclear technology - a deal that when finalised would see India entering the fold of global nuclear commerce after being shut out for decades.

Dr Singh argues the pact is crucial for India's energy security.

But left-wing parties insist the deal would bind India too closely to the United States and runs counter to India's status as a figurehead in the non-aligned movement.

They also believe that allowing UN inspections of the country's civil nuclear programme - as demanded by the Americans - would harm India's strategic weapons programme. -- AFP