Here’s a real-time commentary in which our experts track the no-confidence motion in Parliament.
11:09 pm: The no-confidence motion against the Modi govt is defeated by 325-126 votes.
451 members voted. There were no abstentions. The ruling NDA, with 314 MPs, secures 11 extra votes.
11:05 pm: The process of voting on the no-confidence motion begins.
10:59 pm: Voting set to begin.
10:48 pm: Modi ends his 91-minute reply to the debate on the no-confidence motion by inviting the Opposition to bring forth another no-confidence motion in 2024.
10:44 pm: Modi announces that the government will put out India’s job data every month.
10:40 pm: Narendra Modi on jobs
’50 lakh jobs created in the last nine months in the formal sector.’
‘From Sept 2017 to May 2018 around 18 lakh people have been added to the EPF.’
In 2016-17, 17,000 new CAs have joined business, and 5,000 out of these have started their own companies. If one company gives five jobs, then around one lakh jobs get created.
In the informal sector, last year 11,40,000 people got employment in transport sector.
10:31 pm: ‘Our govt decided that the banks should come out into the open with NPAs, and we also took some decisions that would help the country in the long run.’
10:26 pm: ’60 years after independence, 18 lakh crore rupees was the total bank loan. Between 2008 to 2014, the loan increased to Rs 52 lakh crores,’ says PM Modi.
10:24 pm: PM drinks water for the fourth time.
10:23 pm: There were Congress chief ministers also who opposed GST brought by the UPA government. The Supreme Court ordered to form SIT on black money, but who delayed it? he asks.
‘For eight years you couldn’t do anything on MSP of farm products.’
10:22 pm: ‘One Rank One Pension,’ GST, who delayed all these revolutionary steps? he asks.
10:16 pm: PM finally speaks on the Andhra Pradesh special package issue. He says that the government gave more than what a special status category state deserves to Andhra. ‘
‘I called Chandrababu Naidu over the phone and said “You are getting trapped in YSR strategy,” he says. ‘I want to assure people of Andhra, that the NDA govt will not fall behind in offering help to them,’ he adds.
10:14 pm: ‘You broke up the country into India and Pakistan — we are still suffering from that,’ Modi says.
10:08 pm: Modi says that ‘The Congress is an expert at blackmailing the poor, downtrodden and oppressed… Those who missed article 356 several times are teaching democracy to us.
How did the Congress become weak in state after state? I come from a state where the presence of the Congress is very weak. That is because politics has moved to intermediate and backward castes, to the villages.’
10:06 pm: ‘I can say with pride that hum chowkidar bhi hain, hum bhagidar bhi hai, par apki tarha saudegar nahi hain,’ says PM Modi. ‘I am a bhagidaar in the sorrows and the dreams of 125 crore people,’ he adds.
10:04 pm: ‘The question of why the Govt didn’t bring petroleum products into GST was raised by Congress. But it was the UPA govt who had decided that petroleum products would be kept out of GST,’ says Modi.
10:00 pm: PM Modi plays the victim card. He says, ‘Who am I to look in your eye, you are naamdaar, I am a kaamdaar. How can someone from a poor mother see into your eyes?’ he says.
‘Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandrashekhar, Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar tried to meet you as equals, but you didn’t give them that stature.’
9:57 pm: Modi attacks Sonia, says she is arrogant for saying that she has numbers. He goes on to mimic Sonia Gandhi, saying that he remembers the last time a no-confidence motion was passed in 2001. ‘You said you would get 272 votes,’ he says.
9:55 pm: PM Modi on Congress mocking surgical strikes by calling them ‘jumla’ strikes
‘Stop insulting soldiers who are on the front ready to die for you, you can insult me as much as you want,’ Modi says.
9:51 pm: PM Narendra Modi on national security
‘Doklam has been raised in the House. Will we disregard national interest? There was confusion in Congress on whether Rahul Gandhi met Chinese ambassadors or not… I can’t believe that truth can be presented this way to misguide the country. The country will not forget and forgive the games the Opposition plays on national interest,’ Modi says.
‘Political instability is not in the interest of the country,’ says Modi. He escapes clarifying on the Rafale deal, just mentions that it has been done with full transparency.
9:50 pm: These days there is talk of Shiv Shakti, says PM, taking a jibe at Rahul. ‘I hope that you get so much strength that in 2024 you bring about another no-confidence motion,’ he says.
9:48 pm: Modi says that the Opposition has no faith in Swachh Bharat, International Yoga Day, RBI, EVMs, or the power of the Indian passport abroad, because they don’t believe in themselves.
‘When we launched a direct attack on corruption, the disbelief was bound to rise,’ Modi adds.
9:41 pm: Modi enlists his government’s achievements, slams the opposition parties for doubting them
There were only two mobile manufacturing companies under UPA rule, but now there are 120. There are more than 10,000 start-ups run by our youth today. The Innovation Index has improved by 24 points, but the Opposition doesn’t believe anything. Cost of doing business, Ease of Doing Business, Make in India or GST, they don’t trust anything.
According to an international survey, 5 crore poor have come out of abject poverty in the last two years. We are moving ahead in the direction of doubling farmer income in 2022, but the opposition doesn’t believe it, says PM Narendra Modi
9:36 pm: The PM enumerates on the schemes that his government has undertaken. Says banks were nationalised, but the doors of the banks were not opened for the poor. ‘Our government opened 32 crore new bank accounts and the poor deposited Rs 80,000 crores in those accounts. 4.5 crore poor families were benefited by the Ujjwala scheme of our government,’ he says.
9:34 pm: ‘We want justice!’ – the Opposition chants in the House.
9:33 pm: Sabka saath sabka vikas, it was with this motto that this government provided electricity to 18000 villages.
9:30 pm: The Opposition raises the tempo, creates commotion in Parliament. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tries to get the House back in order and tells Rammohan Naidu to return to his seat.
9:27 pm: This is not a floor test for the BJP. The Congress is worried that its allies will fray. My advice to the Congress is that if you want to test your allies, don’t make no- confidence motion a pretext. – Narendra Modi.
9:26 pm: Modi says that if the Congress becomes the largest party in 2019, what will happen to the dreams of many others, there is still confusion on that.
9:25 pm: With another jibe at Rahul, Modi says that people are arrogant to say that if they speak for 15 minutes, I won’t be able to stand. I am standing.
9:24 pm: ‘The person who wanted to reach where I am is in a hurry…get up, get up,’ he says.
9:23 pm: ‘Na majhi, na rahbar, na hak mein hawain; hai kashti bhi jeerna, phir kaisa safar? – Modi
9:21 pm: Why has the opposition brought this no-confidence motion, as it doesn’t have a majority? Will there be an earthquake if we didn’t have this debate? asks Modi.
9:19 pm: ‘The TDP may have introduced the motion of no-confidence, but I would request you to dismiss this motion,’ says PM Modi.
‘After 30 years, a majority government has been elected to power and has worked hard to bring progress,’ he adds.
9:17 pm: Narendra Modi rises to speak.
9:15 pm: Tabassum Hassan, the recently elected RLD MP from Kairana, who defeated the BJP on a combined Samajwadi-BSP seat, speaks on the distress of farmers.
9:12 pm: Narendra Modi to start speaking any moment now.
9:10 pm: PD Rai of the Sikkim Democratic Front, lone MP from Sikkim, rises to support the government. ‘PM led from the front to defuse the Doklam crisis and we support him,’ he says.
9:09 pm: Ramdas Athawale of Republican Party of India is now speaking. He says Narendra Modi is captain of the country, like Virat Kohli.
9:05 pm: Narendra Modi is back in Parliament. It seems he is ready to speak.
9:04 pm: BJP MP from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, Anurag Thakur is now speaking. Says Congress president allegations against the PM on the Rafale deal have reached France.
8:58: ‘I was never a Pakistani and will never be one… Will die on this soil… Will have to find a way,’ says former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah.
8:23 pm: Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister ke ‘gale pad gaye’, says the BJP.
8:14 pm: Bhagwant Mann of AAP is now speaking. He asks what the BJP is doing in Delhi, and says that when the Prime Minister went to Punjab recently, he wore the turban offered to him for just 90 seconds and then put it aside. This was an insult to the people of Punjab.
He invokes the row between Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and the capital’s lieutenant governor. Says that the LG refused to meet the CM when he sought a meeting.
7.23 pm: Trinamool MP Dinesh Trivedi is now speaking. Says Ram is found everywhere, in a gust of wind, in a speck of dust, so why only in a temple?
6.58 pm: Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu reacts to Rajnath Singh’s speech.
‘It would have been good on Shri Rajnath Singh’s part if he had told what the Centre has done to AP in the last 4 years instead of saying I am a good friend.They are signing the old tune and it seems they haven’t reviewed what they have done to AP,’ says Chandrababu Naidu.
6.30 pm: French government responds to Rahul Gandhi’s claim on Rafale
The French government has said: We have taken note of the statements of Mr. Rahul Gandhi before the Indian Parliament. There is a security agreement between France and India, signed in 2008, which commits the two states to protect the classified information provided by the partner, which could, in particular, impact the security and operational capabilities of the defense equipment. India or France. Its provisions naturally apply to the intergovernmental agreement concluded on 23 September 2016, concerning the acquisition of 36 Rafale and their armaments. As the President of the Republic said publicly last March 9 in his interview India Today “In France as in India, when an agreement is very sensitive, we can not reveal all the details.”
The French government has responded to Rahul Gandhi’s claim in Parliament that French president Macron told him there was no secrecy on the price of 36 Rafale aircraft. Quoting a 2008 bilateral security agreement, also applicable to a 2016 agreement, says information on security and operational capabilities is classified.
6.04 pm: There are 6,23,000 villages in this country. I want to ask who gave electricity to 6,10,000 villages in the country, Mallikarjun Kharge says while speaking on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha.
5.50 pm: Parting shot by Ramvilas Paswan to Congress and opposition, ‘There is no vacancy for the post of Prime Minister, don’t work unnecessarily.’
5.37 pm: Recounting India’s political history, Lok Janshakti Party leader, Ramvilas Paswan cited cases when Congress withdrew its support from various governments at the Centre.
5:06 pm: NCP MP Tariq Anwar takes the floor. He says, ‘Nara tha “Sabka saath sabka Vikas” par aaj na saath hai, na Vikas.’ (The campaign slogan was ‘Collective Efforts Inclusive Growth,’ but today there is neither inclusivity nor growth.)
4:59 pm: The gloves are off, the game is on
Rahul Gandhi’s hug has been the highlight of the day so far, but Modi is way too competitive to let the Congress scion have his day under the sun, Associate Editor Ruhi Tewari analyses.
Even if the hug was meant to score political brownie points, the Prime Minister should reciprocate the stated intent with his own demonstration of large-heartedness.
4.50 pm: Rajnath Singh quotes Ramayana. Says when Ravana was on his death bed, Lord Rama asked his brother Laxman to go and seek gyan for him, such is the culture of our country.
4.47 pm: Rajnath Singh attacks Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on his Hindu-Taliban remark.
4.45 pm: The greatest incident of mob lynching that took place was in 1984, says Rajnath, referring to the anti-Sikh riots.
4.44 pm: Mob lynching shouldn’t happen in the country and the central government will help in all possible way to stop this, says Rajnath Singh.
4.40 pm: Rajanth Singh quotes history, says Basavanna’s Anubhava Mantapa and Chola dynasties are earlier example of democracy.
4.32 pm: ‘Even I did not like when Rahul Gandhi hugged Narendra Modi, we have to maintain the dignity of the House and the post of the Prime Minister,’ says the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. ‘Rahul is not my enemy, he is like my son. Therefore I must correct him when he is wrong.’
4.18 pm: House adjourned for 10 minutes.
4.16 pm: There is uncertainty looming over all these questions.
How will this alliance of opposition parties be formed? Who will be the leader? What will be the policy?
4.15pm: Even China is not a member of Missile Technology Control Regime. But our government has achieved this fate in four years, says Rajnath Singh
4.10 pm: The opposition alliance will not work once they start discussing about who will be the leader of the alliance, says Rajnath Singh.
4.05 pm: Modi govt wins more than just confidence in Lok Sabha
4.03 pm: The man who urged the people to #GiveItUp, and people gave up their LPG gas subsidy, it is against him that this no-confidence motion is being brought, asks Rajnath Singh
4.02 pm: For the first time since independence, BJP became the first non-Congress party to get full majority on its own in India, says Rajnath Singh.
4.00 pm: The opposition knows that we will win this no-confidence motion. But in a healthy democracy, opposition also has also a role and must be respected, says Rajnath Singh.
3.57 pm: ‘I think the other parties don’t understand us, that’s why a no-confidence motion has been raised against us. We never tried to moved against the Manmohan Singh government as we believed that the opposition must be respected.’
3.55 pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh takes the floor.
3.50 pm: BJP to move privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi for misleading Parliament and promoting falsehood : Ananth Kumar, minister for parliamentary affairs.
3.48 pm: The cash in the system is much more than what it was before demonization. You should speak, when everything has become digital, how is so much money in the market, says Salim.
3.40 pm: ‘The cash in the system is much more than what it was before demonetization. You should speak, when everything has become digital, how is so much money in the market,’ says Salim.
3.39 pm: Mohd Salim says,’There were four pictures on BJP manifesto. Vajpayee, Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Rajnath Singh. Salim addresses Rajnath Singh saying, ‘Baki teen margdarshak Mandal mein chale gaye. Bas aap reh Gaye. Aap bane rahen aisi kamna hai. (The other three have gone to the Margdarshak Mandal, only you are left. I hope you stay where you are.) Earlier you said that the all the money abroad is black money. Now you say it is white money.’
3.38 pm: Mohd Salim of CPM starts speaking on no confidence motion.
3.35 pm: BJP worried of the coming elections. ‘You fought three Lok Sabha seats and lost all three in UP. Despite being in power at the centre and the state, BJP lost elections,’ says Mulayam.
3.30 pm: 5 reasons why Rahul Gandhi oozed love for Narendra Modi
3.20 pm: SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav speaks on the farmer’s plight in the country. Says overall farming has become costlier in the country; farmers, businessmen, youth are unhappy.
3.13 pm: Mulayam Singh Yadav takes the floor.
3.06 pm: Vinod Boianapalli has taken the floor, says TRS will not vote in favour of the no-confidence motion. But it is unclear if they will abstain or vote against it.
2.47 pm: ‘The BJP’s economic policy has destroyed the country and throttled the economy. Mallya, Modi and Choksi have been linked to the BJP’ says Trinamool Congress’s Saugata Roy.
2.40 pm: ‘Prime Minister ko ghoomne ki aadat padh gayi hai’ says TMC leadership. Quotes the extensive expenditure that has taken place.
2.37 pm: ‘Our Prime Minister has become like a travelling salesman,’ says Trinamool Congress’s Saugata Roy.
2.26 pm: Rahul Gandhi first tears into PM Modi with a furious speech and then hugs him
Congress president Rahul Gandhi walked across the floor of the House and hugged the Prime Minister seconds after he finished his fiesty speech in which he launched an all-out attack on Narendra Modi and his government.
2.18 pm: Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur says this is Parliament, not Munna Bhai where “pappi jhappis” happen.
2.06 pm: ‘I am grateful to BJP, PM and RSS for teaching me the meaning of Congress, and of being Indian. Hindu hone ka matlab samjhaya and has told what Shiv ji stands for,’ says Rahul Gandhi, embraces Narendra Modi.
2.04 pm: ‘During the break, your members from the Opposition congratulated me and said I spoke very well,’ Rahul Gandhi tells the Opposition.
2.02 pm: The prime minister and the president of the BJP Amit Shah are very different kind of politicians. They are not like us. whereas we are okay to lose power, the PM and president of the BJP can simply not afford to lose power out of fear, because other process will start against them.
2.00 pm: Ruling party MPs disrupt the proceedings of the Lok Sabha as they protest against Rahul Gandhi’s remarks.
1.59 pm: PM silent when people are being killed, lynched. Instead his ministers garland them says Rahul Gandhi, referring to Jayant Sinha’s act of garlanding lynching accused in Jharkhand recently.
1.57 pm: An aggressive Rahul Gandhi wants to know, why is the PM quiet, when attacks against farmers, tribals and women take place?
‘Kisi na kisi Hindustani ko maara ja raha, kuchla ja raha hai,’ says Rahul Gandhi, repeating himself. Doesnt mention the word “Muslim”
1.53 pm: Rahul Gandhi brings up Women’s safety
‘For the first time in the history of India, the country hasn’t been able to defend its women. Ye history mein kabhi nai hua hai..but PM Modi hasn’t said anything.’
1.37 pm: House adjourned till 1.40 pm.
1.36 pm: Rahul Gandhi says “daro mat (don’t be scared)” as ruling party MPs protest against his attack on the Prime Minister.
1.34 pm: Speak nicely, says Speaker Sumrita Mahajan, please control your language.
1.32 pm: The PM betrayed the soldiers of this country by not discussing Doklam when he went to China, Rahul Gandhi alleges.
1.29 pm: ‘Pradhan Mantri apni aankh, meri aank mein nahin daal saakte hai. PM Modi chowkidar nahi hai, bhagidar hai,’ says Rahul Gandhi.
1.28 pm: Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar quotes rules to say that no allegations should be made against any person unless an advance notice has been given.
1.26 pm: Rahul Gandhi says, ‘The amount of money that goes into the marketing of India’s prime minister. One of them was given the Rafale contract. He made thousands and thousands and thousands of crores. The contract was taken away from HAL and given to a businessman for Rs 35,000 crores who has never made a plane in his life.’
1.25 pm: Uproar in the House over the word “untruth.” Is it a parliamentary word or not?
1.24 pm: Speaker Sumitra Mahajan says since defence minister is being brought up, she will be given a chance to reply
1.23 pm: Sitharaman gets up to counter Gandhi’s claims but he doesn’t yield. He says the Defence Minister spoke ‘untruth.’ Speaker says the Defence Minister will get an opportunity to reply.
1.22 pm: Nirmala Sitharaman says : Rahul is misleading the House
1.20 pm: Rahul Gandhi says, ‘ Nirmala Sitharaman has lied to the country under pressure from the PM.’
Rahul questions the defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s claim that the price of the Rafale deal could not be revealed because of a pact between India and France. Gandhi says he himself checked it with the French President who said there was no such pact.
To understand the controversy over Modi choosing the Rafale jets, watch:
1.20 pm: Now Rahul raises Rafale deal. Dont know who PM spoke to, by magic, ‘jaadu se’, price went up from 520 crores to 1600 crores.
1.19 pm: Speaker Sumitra Mahajan removes from record Rahul Gandhi’s reference to the massive increase in the income of the son of a top BJP functionary .
1.18 pm: Rahul Gandhi says PM had claimed he is a watchman of the country but allowed his “friend’s son” to get away.
1.15 pm: Rahul says Pradhan Mantri “bahar main jaate hain..” but few understand. What’s he saying? PM Modi laughs
1.13 pm: You are the victim of a 21st-century political weapon & you are not the only one. The political weapon is called the ‘jumla strike’: Congress President Rahul Gandhi to TDP in Lok Sabha.
1.08 pm: In a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi enumerates “jumlas strikes”: Rs 15 lakh in everyone’s bank account and jobs to two crore people every year. The truth is only four lakh people got jobs, says Gandhi. China gives jobs to 50000 people in 24 hours but this government gives jobs to 400 people only during this period, says the Congress leader
1.06 pm: Congress President Rahul Gandhi starts speaking on the no-confindence motion.
1.04 pm: While the no-trust vote debate is going on in the Lok Sabha, Congress leaders are tweeting using a common hashtag of #KyaHuaTeraVada. The Congress official Twitter handle tweeted a video parody of the song ‘Kya hua tera vada’ in the morning and since then party leaders are using this hashtag to attack Modi Government.
Watch our Friday matinee special #KyaHuaTeraVaada featuring the Liar-in-Chief @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/m9SvNBPPwy
— Congress (@INCIndia) July 20, 2018
1.01 pm: Prime Minister laughs as BJP MP Rakesh Singh and Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia spar over the former’s claims of development in Madhya Pradesh. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi look downbeat as they listen to the BJP MP’s speech.
12.53 pm: BJP uses the debate on the no-confidence motion against the NDA government to highlight the achievements of the BJP governments in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
12.44 pm: Explained: The no-confidence motion in 8 cards.
A guide to no-confidence motion in 8 cards. pic.twitter.com/LA5TImBsin
— ThePrintIndia (@ThePrintIndia) July 20, 2018
12.40 pm: Rakesh Singh says it not a small step that an Islamic country like Saudi Arabia has allowed a Hindu temple to be built. Corrects himself, it’s the UAE.
12.33 pm: BJP makes its welfare pitch
BJP talks about the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (housing scheme), Swaach Bharat Abhiyan, and how the Modi government is planning to ensure housing for all. The party, responding to Rahul Gandhi’s focus on gender, says 8 crore women benefited by the Ujjwala LPG cylinder scheme.
12.31 pm: Minorities Vs Poor, another prong of BJP strategy
BJP MP Rakesh Singh cites former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remark about Muslims having the first right over national resources. The BJP MP says it’s the poor who have the right over the resources.
12.29 pm: BJP invokes Ambedkar, says Congress has always disrespected him
BJP and PM Modi have been making attempts to appropriate Ambedkar’s legacy in a bid to reach out to the Dalit community.
12.25 pm: The BJP’s strategy is clear : Hit at the Congress dynasty.
Rakesh Singh says, ‘Only one dynasty ruling since independence. They cannot bear to see anyone else rule.’
12.24 pm: Rakesh Singh says, “I don’t know how many parties will have to swallow the poison today by standing with the no trust motion.”
Further, he states, “Today we can say that in 48 years, Congress has practiced the politics of scams, and in 48 months, we have practiced the policy of schemes.”
12.22 pm: As expected BJP starts its attack on the grand alliance.
Rakesh Singh took a jibe at the recent incident of Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy crying in front of camera and saying that he feels like he is swallowing poison because of the
12.19 pm: BJD an obedient ally of BJP, tweets Odisha Congress chief
Minutes after Biju Janta Dal MPs walked out of the no-trust debate in Lok Sabha, Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik came down heavily on the BJD, calling it an ally of the BJP.
“Like an obedient ally BJD walked out of no confidence motion against the BJP,” he tweeted. “I have always said this and reiterate, both these parties are hand in glove with each other and have been deceiving Odias all along. It’s Congress Vs BJD+BJP alliance in Odisha.”
Congress leaders till this morning were clueless about the BJD’s stand. There were some attempts from Congress leaders to reach out to Odisha chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik. But the effort didn’t yield much dividend.
12.18 pm: BJP MP from Jabalpur and Madhya Pradesh BJP president Rakesh Singh initiates the debate for the BJP
12.15 pm: Even now the BJP is not very confident that they can go for an election in May : Veerappa Moily
12.10 pm: Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and TDP MP Jayadev Galla spar on to conclude or not his speech. Only one more sentence, she says, ‘Now just say thank you, madam.’ But he pleads, ‘One more minute.’
12.01 pm: Jayadev Galla says, ‘PM said if he was voted to power he would build us a capital bigger than Delhi. He told us to visit Astana, the capital of Kazakshtan, which has cost $68 billion. He told us this in front of Lord Balaji. Can we build a capital for Rs 1500 crores?’
11.58 am: Quick political science lesson: A motion of confidence is moved by the prime minister to prove his/her government’s majority on the floor of the House, whereas a motion of no-confidence is moved by the opposition.
Here’s why Narendra Modi won’t be too troubled by no-confidence motion.
11.54 am: Oh no. Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with one hundred women journalists this afternoon has been called off. The clean-shaven young man is in Parliament, hearing Jayadev Galla of TDP inaugurate the no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
We were supposed to meet this afternoon, at the India International Centre, right next to Lodhi Gardens. Would have been so beautiful, with the rains…now we await his date with us, on Tuesday, July 24.
11.52 am: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar says, JD(U) is with the government on the no-confidence motion.
11.46 am: Jaydev Galla tells the Modi government: ‘If this is how you behave, do you really think people of AP will have confidence in you and vote for you?’
11.44 am: Mr Modi while campaigning in Andhra Pradesh had said ‘Congress killed the mother & saved the child. Had I have been there, I would have saved the mother too’. People of AP have waited for 4 long years for him to save their mother, says TDP’s Jayadev Galla in Lok Sabha.
11.38 am: 14th Finance Commission didn’t make any recommendation about special category status, says TDP MP from Guntur, Jayadev Galla.
11.37 am: Jayadev Galla says, “a PM on whom we had immense faith has betrayed and deceived the people of the state.”
11.35 am: Why does Jayadev Galla, TDP MP from Guntur, have an American accent? That’s because he lived in the US for 22 years, studied in the university of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, then returned to India to join his industrialist father. He is now a top CEO in the country, apart from being an MP.
11.25am: Shiv Sena will participate in the debate, but is likely to not vote.
11.22 am: Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill was passed undemocratically and arbitrarily, says TDP MP Jayadev Galla.
11.20 am: The articulate Jayadev Galla says : ‘Andhra is the new state. We have been facing challenges for the last four years. We need relief from this uncertainty.’
11.20 am: Reports coming in that Shiv Sena, a NDA constituent has decided to abstain from the vote of no-confidence. The Shiv Sena and the BJP have had a love-hate relationship ever since the Modi government took over. The interesting fact is that the motion has been introduced by the TDP, which till a few months back, a part of the NDA and also had ministerial representative in the Modi government. And, with Shiv Sena deciding to abstain, is the NDA showing strains.
11.18 am: TDP MP Jayadev Galla initiates the debate on no-confidence motion. This is the first time that a first-term MP has initiated a debate on a no-trust motion.
11.15am: Even as Parliament debates the no-confidence motion, a group of 200 farmers’ is also scheduled to take a black flag protest march against the Narendra Modi government’s anti-farmers policies. The march, which has being dubbed farmers’ no-confidence motion will begin from Mandi House, New Delhi and culminate at Parliament Street. Farmers are also planning a Kisan Avishwas Prastav Sabha (farmers’ no-confidence motion meeting) at Parliament Street.
11.10 am: The no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government has begun. The Biju Janata Dal has walked out even before the debate could start. This is good news for the BJP.
11.08 am: Having been granted just 38 minutes to speak on the motion of no-confidence, the opposition Congress has questioned the “short time” given to it as well as other opposition parties. “Is this time sufficient for us to highlight issues of 130 crore Indians and shortcomings of this govt? Each party should get 30 minutes, but 38 minutes have been allotted to the largest opposition party. No-confidence motion can’t be treated like question hour,” Congress Leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said.
Parties are granted time depending on their numerical strength. While Congress has been granted just 38 minutes, ruling BJP has been given 3 hours, 33 minutes, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to be the star speaker for the government.
10.40 am: Amidst pouring rain, MPs will soon reach Parliament to debate a high-profile no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government. Win or lose, the debate is expected to set the tone for several state elections later this year, as well as the campaign for the 2019 general election.
9.45 am: PM calls for a disruption-free debate today
Today is an important day in our Parliamentary democracy. I am sure my fellow MP colleagues will rise to the occasion and ensure a constructive, comprehensive & disruption free debate. We owe this to the people & the makers of our Constitution. India will be watching us closely.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2018
9.15 am: Numbers, speeches and everything else you need to know about the no-confidence motion
Associate Editor Ruhi Tewari reports: BJP looks comfortable with 273 MPs but given the timing of the motion, ahead of the election year, a lot more is at stake.
9.00 am: How BJP plans to use the no-trust vote
Associate Editor Pragya Kaushika reports: The BJP plans to use the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in Lok Sabha to expose “cracks” in opposition unity. The NDA sits pretty with the numbers on its side and hopes to break away some opposition MPs.
BJP strategy is to use no-trust vote to expose ‘cracks’ in opposition unity
8.45 am: History shows Modi has nothing to worry about
Associate Editor Ruhi Tewari reports: If history is anything to go by, the NDA government has nothing to worry about when it faces its first no-confidence motion Friday. It will be the 38th motion of no-confidence/confidence to be moved in Parliament since Independence, and all governments, barring one, have survived.
Narendra Modi won’t be too troubled by no-confidence motion, suggests Parliament history
8.30 am: Five reasons why the opposition has miscalculated
Associate Editor Kumar Anshuman reports: The opposition may just have shot itself in the foot by pushing for a no-confidence motion, writes Kumar Anshuman. They have handed PM Modi the best launchpad for his campaign 2019 — from the seat of India’s democracy.
A no-confidence motion is the best time for Narendra Modi to raise his 2019 campaign pitch
12.01 am: The Narendra Modi government faces its first no-trust vote in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
With 314 MPs, including 273 of the BJP in the 535-member House, the ruling NDA is comfortably placed in terms of numbers.
The debate and voting on the motion, however, assumes significance because it will test the strength of both the Treasury and the Opposition benches. Will the NDA stick together? Will the entire opposition unite against the government? What will be the approach of fence-sitting parties such as the AIADMK, the BJD, the TRS, the INLD, and the YSR Congress, which maintain equi-distance from both the BJP and the Congress?
Voting on the no-confidence motion will provide answers to these questions and could give an indication of likely political alignments and realignments in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
