Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Wednesday accepted a no-confidence motion filed against the Narendra Modi government by Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi. According to reports, speaker Om Birla has called a meeting of floor leaders of all parties in Lok Sabha on Thursday, 27 July. As per the convention, once admitted the discussion on the motion has to be held within 10 days.
The Monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to end on 11 August.
While the opposition has been clear about the fact that their numbers in the lower house of the parliament do not ensure a majority and probably the no-confidence motion will fail, which happens otherwise will lead to the immediate downfall of the PM Narendra Modi-led government’s downfall.
Meanwhile, all MPs belonging to the Opposition’s INDIA bloc will wear black clothes to Parliament on Thursday as a mark of protest against the government over the Manipur issue, sources said.
All MPs belonging to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have been asked to come dressed in black to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi not making a statement on the Manipur issue in Parliament till now, an MP of the Opposition bloc said.
This will be the 28th no-confidence motion in independent India’s history.
What is no-confidence motion?
A no-confidence emotion in a democratically elected governance is a tactical tool in the hands of the opposition which uses the same to bring to a declaration if the elected ruling party still enjoys majority support in the Lok Sabha.
Any Lok Sabha MP, who can garner the support of 50 colleagues, can, at any point of time, introduce a motion of no-confidence against the Council of Ministers.
Opposition’s Trojan horse in Lok Sabha
The opposition uses this tool to highlight the ruling party’s failures in governance and discuss them further. In this case, the Opposition bloc has been blaming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of evading questions and discussion around the ethnic violence-stricken Manipur.
The no-confidence motion has the capability of usurping the government. If the motion is passed in the Lok Sabha, the entire cabinet, including the Prime Minister, has to resign.
Procedure for No-Confidence Motion
A no-confidence motion is brought according to the rules of the Lok Sabha.
The information about bringing a confidence motion to the House has to be given in writing to the Secretary-General by 10 am.
It requires the support of at least 50 members of the House. If the motion is passed, the President fixes one or more days for discussion. The President of India can also ask the government to prove its majority. If the government is unable to do so, the cabinet must resign, or else it will be dismissed.
In this case, upon a decided date by speaker Om Birla, the no-confidence motion will be tabled in the Lok Sabha. This will open up discussions regarding the Manipur violence.
If unconvinced, the President of India can also ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prove his majority in the parliament, failing which the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance will have to resign.
What to expect from this no confidence motion
As has been predicted by the the Opposition bloc themselves that they do not enjoy the majority in Lok Sabha and the motion is likely to not work in their favour. However, the opposition bloc aims to win the ‘battle of perception’ thereby cornering the ruling government into answering question on the burning Manipur issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will asked to answer questions tabled by the opposition bloc. When he does so, the satisfaction and trust from the opposition and President of India will steer the further path of the motion.
PM Modi’s previous no trust vote: What happened?
The last time the Modi government faced a no-confidence motion was during its first term in 2018. The motion was defeated comprehensively as the BJP-led NDA enjoyed a strong majority in Lok Sabha.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had named all opposition members who had moved similar no-confidence motions and said Telugu Desam Party’s Kesineni Srinivas would move his motion as his name had come up in the lottery.
After a raging 12-hour debate, the Modi government defeated the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha by 199 votes.
The debate ended with Congress leader Rahul gandhi hugging Prime Minister Modi. Gandhi had earlier delivered a speech questioning BJP’s silence over atrocities on women of the minority communities (sounds like Deja Vu!), Rafale Deal and the effects of demonetisation.
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Updated: 26 Jul 2023, 09:06 PM IST