Modi Government To Face No-Confidence Motion In Parliament As Speaker Admits, Date Yet To Be Decided

The Modi government will have to face a no-condidence motion in the Lok Sabha as Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday admitted the motion moved by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi against the Narendra Modi government.

The decision came after the head count supporting the admission of the motion crossed 50 MPs, as required under the rules.     

Lok Sabha Speaker OM Birla said the time of the debate will be fixed by him after s discussion with the parties and will be conveyed to the House.

When asked to stand for the head count supporting the motion, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, stood up following which Birla admitted the motion expressing want of confidence in the Union Council of Ministers.

Earlier today, after Congress and BRS on Wednesday submitted the notice for no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha Speaker's office, the parliament proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon as Opposition parties continued to protest on the Manipur issue.

The protests began soon after the House paid tributes to soldiers who had died in the Kargil war.

Some members were also heard shouting slogans such as 'We want justice'.

Speaker Om Birla told the protesting members that all issues can be discussed and urged them to uphold the decorum of the House.

The Congress has also issued a whip in Lok Sabha for its members to be present in its parliamentary office by 10.30 am "to discuss some important issues."

All about the decision: The Opposition's Stand

According to the leaders of the Opposition front INDIA, the decision for the motion was taken in a meeting attended by INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) MPs in Parliament on Tuesday morning.

In the meeting, it was decided that this would be an effective way to compel the government to initiate a discussion on the issue, one of the alliance leaders said.

"We discussed that if we move a notice of no-confidence motion with 50 MP signatures, the PM will have to speak. If he still doesn't speak, it will send a clear message that he is running away. It is a matter of perception. We are working on it now and we will make sure we submit it before 10 am tomorrow," said a senior leader of the alliance.

"The overall parliamentary strategy is in place for the INDIA parties. Tactics to execute that strategy evolve every day.  Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha states the procedure of moving a no-confidence motion. 'Picture abhi baki hai' (the story is still unfolding)!" said Derek O'Brien, Trinamool's leader in Rajya Sabha.  

Asked whether the opposition will move the motion against the government on the Manipur issue, Congress senior spokesperson Manish Tewari said in the parliamentary system and tradition, all options are open and the options in the rules are all available before the opposition.

"As we have pointed out in the last three or four days, the reasons why we are insistent that the Prime Minister must address both Houses of Parliament on the question of Manipur is because of the sensitivity and the depravity that Manipur has unfortunately witnessed in the past 78 to 80 days.

"Therefore under those circumstances, we are steadfast in our demand and as I pointed out that in a democracy all instrumentalities which are available under the Parliamentary rules always remain open," Tewari said.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also said if there was any way to get the Prime Minister to speak, the no-confidence motion route might be the correct way.

"If we are going to employ any method to force the Prime Minister, who has been disrespecting Parliament, who does not come to the House, who doesn't answer questions in the House, this would be a welcome step," he said

His party colleague, Gaurav Gogoi, also said that the INDIA bloc's objective was to make the Prime Minister speak.

"The Opposition has only one aim that PM Modi must speak in Parliament. Unfortunately, the PM is diverting the attention of the nation. First, he said look at Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, and West Bengal and today he said look at East India Company and Indian Mujahideen. Basically, after the INDIA alliance has come together the Prime Minister is having sleepless nights. Now, to hide his government's failures in Manipur he is desperately trying to divert attention.

"Parliament is the temple of Indian democracy and we want the Prime Minister to come and that is our single most objective of the parties in the INDIA alliance," Gogoi said when asked about the notice.

Response from BJP

While answering quesrtions on the opposition parties' decision, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters that the opposition should remember their failed attempt in 2018.

"I am not aware of their move but if they are doing so they should know that last time they brought a no-confidence motion, BJP came back to power with a stronger majority of over 300 seats and the same will happen again and we will get more than 350 seats," Joshi said.

The first no-confidence motion against the Modi government in the Lok Sabha was moved on July 20, 2018 where the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) scored a massive win with 325 MPs voting against the motion and only 126 supporting it.