The Parliament on Tuesday witnessed a fierce debate after the Congress moved the no-confidence motion. The Congress, with the Opposition, said that it was “forced” to put the motion to vote to break what it alleged was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “maun vrat” (vow of silence) on the Manipur violence. The treasury benches hit back at the Opposition and said that the no-trust vote was a vote against a “poor person’s son” who worked for the welfare of the people. The Opposition at various points during the debate also invoked BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee to target the Prime Minister.
A no-confidence motion is a parliamentary tool used by the opposition to express its lack of confidence in the government. The ruling party must then prove its majority in the House to maintain confidence. If it loses the majority, the government will fall immediately. The government can remain in power as long as it has the majority in the Lok Sabha.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government faced a no-trust vote in July 2018, which was moved by the Telugu Desam Party. After almost 11 hours of debate, the government defeated the motion with the backing of 330 MPs.
Initiating the debate in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi raised a series of questions on Manipur, including why the Prime Minister had not visited the state and why Chief Minister N Biren Singh had not been sacked. The Congress MP from Assam said it was a matter of “grave concern” that a government that talked about “one India” had created “two Manipurs — one living in hills and the other in the valley”.
“If Manipur is burning, the entire India is burning, if Manipur is divided, the country is divided…” the Congress MP from Assam said. Intervening in the debate, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress and other Opposition parties have brought the no-confidence motion at a “wrong time and in a wrong manner.” At a time when Prime Minister Modi has emerged as the world leader and the country was marching ahead to become a developed nation by 2047, there was no need for such a motion. “Congress and opposition parties will regret bringing in the no-confidence motion at the wrong time and in a wrong manner,” he said.
There were also heated exchanges between the Opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi’s name as lead speaker was withdrawn last minute. Top ministers including Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia are slated to speak today, as per parliamentary sources said. Rijiju attributed the current problems in Manipur to the negligent attitude of the previous Congress governments. He asserted that “When our government was formed, in the first cabinet meeting, Modi ji made a group and said that every 15 days, five cabinet ministers and seven ministers of state must tour the Northeast. It is still going on, all the ministers sitting here have toured the northeast.” Starting the debate from the government’s side, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said the Prime Minister has remarked that this is not a no-confidence motion against the government but was brought by the opposition to test the confidence of its own alliance members in each other. Dubey took a swipe at the opposition parties, saying they were fighting among themselves and calling themselves INDIA. In his remarks, Dubey also raised the issue of the Supreme Court staying Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in the ‘Modi surname’ remark case following which his Lok Sabha membership was restored.
Dubey also named various non-Congress parties of the INDIA bloc to claim that they had been targeted by the Congress in the past but they were now siding with the grand old party against the NDA.
According to the numbers
The numbers are comfortably stacked in favour of the government and the Opposition is expected to utilise the opportunity to demonstrate its newly firmed-up unity to take on the BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha elections. The Lok Sabha currently has 539 members who will vote in the motion, of which the majority mark will be 270. The BJP alone has 301, while its allies have had 31 more votes. The opposition INDIA alliance has 143 while parties like KCR’s BRS, YS Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP, and Naveen Patnaik’s BJD have a combined strength of 70. YSRCP (22) and BJD (12) are expected to back the government.
The government is expected to sail through the no-trust vote with nearly 366 members already having pledged their support. The opposition INDIA alliance has a strength of 143, and could also win 9 more votes of the BRS taking their tally to 152.
Who said what
Congress and opposition parties will regret bringing in the no-confidence motion at the wrong time and in a wrong manner.
— Union Minister Kiren Rijiju
[Sonia Gandhi] now has only two primary concerns—bete ko set karna hai aur daamad ko bhet karna hai.
— BJP MP Nishikant Dubey
[The Opposition was] forced to bring the motion to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘maun vrat’ (vow of silence) on Manipur.
— Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi
How are you a party with a difference? In 9 years, you have toppled 9 state governments.
— NCP MP Supriya Sule