NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena MPs - of whom there are 18 - will not attend Lok Sabha proceedings on Friday when a no-confidence motion is being debated and voted on.

That means they will be abstaining from voting in the motion against the BJP-led NDA government, of which it is an ally. Sources told TOI that while they will abstain from voting, they will still take part in the debate.

However, one Sena MP Anandrao Adsul told news agency ANI, "We are boycotting parliamentary work today and haven't even signed our attendance."

Live updates: No-confidence motion debate in Parliament

The TDP - which introduced the no-confidence motion - had hoped that the Sena would support its motion and had sent feelers to the party.The TDP had even claimed that on the day of voting not just the Sena, but even disgruntled MPs from BJP and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would support the no-trust motion.

The Sena made the decision to abstain after its Parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi earlier on Friday. The party has flip-flopped in its stance on the no-trust vote .

A day earlier, on Thursday, a whip issued by the Sena asked all its MPs to support the NDA government. Early on Friday, it emerged that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has merely asked his MPs to be present in Delhi. A Sena sources said the earlier whip was "issued by mistake".

The whip issued by Khaire earlier had said that all members of the party in the Lok Sabha should remain present in the House when the no-trust motion is taken up for discussion tomorrow, and "support the government's stand".

The Sena source said there was a change of mind after the party learnt that the BJP, in a bid to woo Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna's Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti, assured him of considering his demand to increase the milk procurement price in Maharashtra, even when Shetti has been harshly critical of the NDA and the BJP.

The source added that the Sena felt that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government is walking on thin ice in terms of numbers to cross the majority mark of 268 in the Lok Sabha.

