NEW DELHI - India's embattled coalition government was grappling for support Thursday to ensure it can win a confidence vote sparked by a withdrawal of support from left-wing parties, officials said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress-led administration lost its majority after a bloc of leftists and communists stopped backing the government because of their staunch opposition to a nuclear deal with the United States. According to Doordarshan, during a meeting with President Pratibha Patil that lasted for 30 minutes Manmohan Singh conveyed to the President that he would seek trust vote in the Lok Sabha and the date of the special session would be conveyed to her by Friday (today) evening. The President on Wednesday requested the Prime Minister to meet her to discuss the political developments in wake of the left parties withdrawal and Samajwadi party's fresh letter of support for the UPA Government. Before this important meeting, Congress core group met in the capital to discuss the political scenario on account of the Indo-US nuclear deal. The Congress Core Committee meeting was attended by party chief Sonia Gandhi, Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony and Shivraj Patil, besides other senior leaders. A meeting of the UPA has also been called on Friday. According to Zee News, the government will convene a special session of Parliament for a floor test either on July 17 or 18, said the sources, adding that the government would withdraw the IAEA and NSG texts if the government fails to win the confidence vote. Further, the Congress party is believed to have asked its MPs to remain in the country till July 22, which suggests that the government might convene the special Parliament session and seek trust vote before that date. According to AFP, a special parliament session was likely to be called on July 21 or 22, the source added, to enable Manmohan to prove he had the numbers to stay in office and push through the nuclear accord with Washington. At present, Congress and its allies have 225 assured seats in India's directly elected 545-member lower house of parliament, way short of a simple majority after 59 left-wing lawmakers withdrew support. Last week, the regional socialist Samajwadi Party with 39 MPs promised to vote with the government but news reports say some within the group could rebel. "What we are trying to do is to get more than the 272 required to win the confidence vote," said a senior Congress minister. Recalling that a previous government had collapsed due to a single vote in 1999, he said: "We are not taking any chances. We are in touch with some parties in the opposition camp who have stated that they are not opposed to the (nuclear) deal." But Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who heads a regional party allied to Congress, was confident the government would sail through a vote. "The government is safe... Everything has been arranged for (victory) and the government will prove its majority," Yadav said. 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 enter the fold of global nuclear commerce after being shut out for decades. The prime minister, who met with US Ambassador to India David C Mulford Thursday to discuss the developments on the nuclear pact, argues the deal is crucial for India's energy security. But India's left-wing parties and the Hindu nationalist Opposition insist it 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. Nevertheless, the government on Wednesday finally moved forward on an agreement subjecting the country's civilian nuclear sites to international controls for the first time.