No confidence motion: Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Tuesday that the opposition parties would bring a no-confidence motion against the government in the lower house today. Opposition seeks to win battle of perception through proposed no-confidence motion
India’s coalition of 26 opposition parties is set to submit a notice of no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak in Parliament on the Manipur violence.
The notice needs signatures of 50 MPs.
The alliance has already drafted the notice and is in the process of getting signatures of the required 50 MPs. The group has to submit the notice before 10 am to be read out by the Speaker in the House on Wednesday.
The Congress has also issued a whip to its members in the Lok Sabha to attend their parliamentary office by 10.30 am “to discuss certain important issues”. The decision on the proposal was taken at a meeting of Bharatiya (Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance) MPs in Parliament on Tuesday morning.
A leader of the alliance said that after considering various options in a meeting of opposition leaders, it was decided that this would be an effective way to force the government to initiate a discussion on the issue.
The leader said, the strategy of the opposition to corner the government on Manipur will continue in the Rajya Sabha as well.
A senior alliance leader said, “We discussed that if we bring the no-confidence motion notice with the signatures of 50 MPs, the PM will have to speak. If he still doesn’t speak, it will give 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.”
Battle over Manipur issue
He also said that the opposition coalition comprising India’s two largest parties – the Congress and the TMC – are in talks to take the no-confidence motion route to force the Prime Minister to speak on Manipur in Parliament.
“There is an overall parliamentary strategy in place for Indian parties. The strategy to execute that strategy evolves every day. Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha lays down the procedure for moving a no-confidence motion. ‘Picture abhi baaki hai’ (the story is still unfolding)!” Trinamool leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien said.
motion of no confidence is certain to fall
The proposed no-confidence motion is sure to fail the numbers test. However, the opposition parties argued that by cornering the government on the Manipur issue during the debate, they would win the battle of perception.
They argue that even getting the Prime Minister to speak in Parliament on the Manipur issue is a strategy, as the government has been insisting that only the Union Home Minister will answer the debate on Manipur’s status.
The fate of the no-confidence motion is already sealed as the numbers are clearly in favor of the BJP and the opposition group has less than 150 members in the lower house.
However, it is up to the Speaker to decide when to take up that notice in the House. Opposition leaders said that India would use the no-confidence motion as a tool to hold the coalition government accountable on the floor of Parliament and focus on Manipur, which the government has so far been trying to avoid in Parliament.
(with PTI inputs)