The deferment of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's reply to the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha added fuel to BJP's speculation that the government did not have the requisite numbers in the House. The prime minister was to reply to the debate at 5 pm on Thursday. However, his reply was put off for Monday. Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal, who had on Wednesday discussed with Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj the time of the prime minister's reply, returned from Lucknow in the evening and the communication on the PM's speech being put off was made only late in the day.