Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admits no-confidence notices by Opposition parties against Modi government

After the House met at 12 noon and papers were laid on the table, the Speaker said he has received a notice from Gogoi for moving a motion of no-confidence against the government.

He asked members supporting the admission of the motion to stand after which INDIA alliance members, including Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, stood up for a head count.

The letter submitted by the BRS.

Birla then admitted the motion expressing want of confidence in the Union Council of Ministers. Birla said a date and time for discussion on it will be fixed by him after consultation with all parties.

The Opposition has moved the notices despite the numbers being stacked against it in the House.

This is the second time a notice for a no-confidence motion has been submitted against the Modi government.

In July 2018 — 15 years after a no-confidence motion was moved against then prime minister from BJP Atal Bihari Vajpayee — TDP MP Kesineni Srinivas had moved a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government.

Now it is the turn of the Congress and the BRS to resort to the no-confidence motion route in an attempt to compel the prime minister to make a statement on the floor of the House on key issues, primarily violence-hit Manipur.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi and BRS MP Nageshwar Rao on Wednesday morning submitted notices to the Lok Sabha secretary general seeking to move a no-confidence motion against the Modi government.

The notice of no-confidence by the BRS and the AIMIM — which are not part of either the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or the Opposition INDIA fronts — has come as part of a joint effort beyond party and alliance lines.

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Numbers lacking

The no-confidence motion is being moved even though the Opposition parties do not have the numbers to put the Narendra Modi government in a spot.

With its current strength in the Lok Sabha, the NDA can easily defeat the motion — much as it did in 2018.

The BJP alone has over 300 seats and, with alliance partners, the NDA can ensure 335 votes to defeat the no-confidence motion if the Speaker were to allow it in the Lok Sabha.

Following submitting the notice, the Speaker is set to scrutinise it. The no-confidence motion is allowed in the House if it is accepted by at least 50 MPs.

MPs of the newly-named Opposition Front — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) — BRS and the AIMIM are set to back Gogoi and Rao’s no-confidence motion.

Adjournment motions in both Houses

While a no-confidence motion can be moved only in the Lok Sabha, alliance partners of INDIA like the DMK are set to move an adjournment motion in the Rajya Sabha over Manipur.

“I will be submitting a suspension of business notice in the Rajya Sabha today,” said DMK MP Tiruchy Siva to South First.

VCK leader Thol Thirumavalan said he has issued an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha to discuss ongoing violence in Manipur.

With numbers firmly with them, the BJP is confident.

“People have confidence in Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. They brought a no-confidence motion in the last term as well. People of this country taught them a lesson,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters outside parliament on Wednesday.