Final discussion on the no-confidence motion :
On Thursday, which is August 10th, there will be a final discussion on the no-confidence motion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will respond at 4 PM. Following that, voting may take place. For a majority, there should be at least 50% plus 1 of the present members in the house.
The BJP has 303 members in the Lok Sabha. Including allies, the count reaches 333. YSR, BJD, and TDP have also promised their support. The Congress has 51 members. The INDIA coalition has a total of 143 MPs.
This is the second motion of no-confidence against the Modi government. The first was tabled by the Telugu Desam Party on July 20, 2018. After 12 hours of discussion, the Modi government received 325 votes while the opposition received 126 votes. So far, there have been 27 instances of no-confidence motions. The first one was brought in 1963 after the Sino-Indian war against the Nehru government.
Rahul Gandhi blamed PM Modi :
During his 35-minute speech, Rahul Gandhi stated, “Our Prime Minister has never visited Manipur. Manipur is not India for him. I visited relief camps, talked to women and children. The PM hasn’t gone to Manipur because it’s not India for him. The army can bring peace there in a day. You’re not doing that because you want to destroy Manipur in India. You’re not protectors of Mother India, you’re its killers.”
Smriti Irani accused Rahul Gandhi :
Minister Smriti Irani remarked, “Rahul talks about the murder of Mother India. Congress claps. It shows who harbors treachery in their hearts.” She accused Rahul Gandhi of disrespectful behavior towards female MPs. The BJP has lodged a complaint with the Speaker.
Home Minister Amit Shah said, “What happened in Manipur is shameful. Doing politics over it is even more shameful. Even when Narsimha Rao was PM, 700 people were killed in Manipur, but he didn’t go there. I spent 3 days and nights in Manipur. The Home State Minister stayed for 23 days. He’s still monitoring. He didn’t remove the Chief Minister of Manipur because he was cooperating. Article 356 is used to replace a CM when they’re not cooperating.”
On the first day of the no-confidence motion debate, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, “Bringing the no-confidence motion was our necessity. We’ve brought this motion to break the PM’s silence. The PM needs to accept that his double-engine government has failed in Manipur. But he doesn’t want to admit his mistake to the public.” The debate on the motion began on August 8th. Rahul Gandhi was supposed to give the speech on behalf of Congress, but Gaurav Gogoi read it instead.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said, “In the morning, the Secretary-General’s office received a note saying Rahul Gandhi will speak. We were waiting for his speech. Now Gaurav Gogoi is speaking. What happened in 5 minutes? Soniaji’s complete picture of what Indian women should do is seen. She has two tasks – to set her son and to present the son-in-law.”
Often fails in the house :
No-confidence motions often fail in the house, yet why does the opposition keep using this weapon? In 1963, JB Kripalani of the Praja Socialist Party presented the first no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha. Although the voting was in favor of PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s government, the exercise is crucial in periodically examining governments.
Acharya Kripalani said while presenting the motion, “It’s distressing for me to bring a motion against a government in which many of my 30-year-old friends are included. But due to my duty and my conscience, I’m bringing this motion to hold the government accountable on behalf of my people.”
Responding to this, PM Jawaharlal Nehru stated, “It’s good to test governments from time to time through such motions, especially when there’s no possibility of them falling.”
During a no-confidence motion, MPs from all parties ask questions related to their states or the country. The government is required to provide answers. In 2018, TDP MPs raised questions about Andhra Pradesh issues.
Pics Courtesy : Google