New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Wednesday accepted a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition parties against the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
The motion is likely to be taken up for debate next week after the Speaker, in consultation with floor leaders of all parties, decides on a time.
This will be the 28th motion of no-confidence moved in the Lok Sabha in the history of independent India.
The way the numbers are stacked up in the House currently, the Opposition’s move is just a symbolic one as the BJP-led NDA is well-placed and has nothing to worry about.
The Opposition knows this but hopes its move will lead to PM Modi making a statement on the floor of the House on the law and order situation in Manipur — a demand it has been pressing since the monsoon session of Parliament started on 20 July.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, the party’s deputy leader in the Lower House, moved the motion in the Lok Sabha, which was supported by all constituents of the INDIA bloc (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) who wield a collective strength of 144 MPs in the Lok Sabha. In addition, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi of Telangana also supported the motion proposed by Gogoi.
The NDA government currently has 331 members, with the BJP alone having 303 MPs.
ThePrint explains how a no-confidence motion works.
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What is a no-confidence motion?
A government can only function if it has the support of the majority of the Lok Sabha, and can remain in power if it demonstrates its strength in a floor test that is predominantly used to determine whether the executive has the confidence of the legislature.
A motion of no-confidence indicates that one or more members of Parliament have lost confidence in the current administration. It then allows the Opposition to contest the government’s majority and the ability to govern and, if the motion is passed after being put to vote, the PM must resign.
A member introducing a motion of no-confidence is not required to disclose a reason for the same.
Speaking to ThePrint, PDT Achary, former secretary general of the Lok Sabha, said: “The debates that take place in such motions often pave the way for discussions and perspectives to be taken into account before the House and the nation as a whole, and for the Opposition to register its protest.’’
How is it taken up?
The procedural device to express want of confidence in the Council of Ministers is provided under Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct in the Lok Sabha.
While any member of the Lok Sabha may introduce a motion of no-confidence, it must be supported by at least 50 other members.
In 1952, the Rules of the Lok Sabha stipulated that a vote of no-confidence could be initiated with the support of 30 MPs; this number has since increased to 50.
The motion must be written, signed by the member submitting it, and submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker on a sitting day before 10 am.
The Speaker decides whether or not to admit the motion for discussion and debate after it has been introduced. The notice for it has to be read aloud in the House by the Speaker and a hearing date must be set within 10 days of the motion’s acceptance.
If accepted, the date and time for discussion in the Lok Sabha are established, with the proposer initiating the debate. It is followed by a government response and an opportunity for opposition parties to speak.
After the debate, the Lok Sabha votes on the motion, which is approved if supported by the majority of its members. However, if the government wins the vote, the motion is defeated.
Does the PM have to reply to a no-confidence motion?
Opposition parties have long been demanding a statement from PM Modi on the Manipur issue. The government has stated that because the situation in Manipur is related to law and order problems, Union home minister Amit Shah will speak about the matter.
Unwilling to accept the argument, the opposition decided to press ahead with a no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
But is the Prime Minister duty-bound to speak if a no-confidence motion is moved?
Rule 20 of the Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha states: “The Prime Minister or any other Minister shall, whether previously taken part in the discussion or not, have on behalf of the Government a general right of explaining the position of the Government at the end of the discussion and the Speaker may enquire how much time will be required for the speech so that the Speaker may fix the hour by which the discussion shall conclude.”
The Rule adds: “The mover or the seconder shall not have any right of reply after the Prime Minister or any other Minister has explained the position of the Government at the end of the discussion.
According to Achary, no-confidence motions are symbolic in nature.
“It is symbolic because the Opposition wants to register its protest on certain issues. After discussion, the motion will be defeated because the government has the majority. The outcome is known. The motion merely provides an occasion for discussion. They want the PM to make a statement in the House which the government is not agreeing to — hence this motion has been moved,” he told ThePrint.
Will BJP be removed from power if motion is passed?
The majority threshold in the Lok Sabha is 272, and the NDA government currently has 331 members, with the BJP alone having 303 MPs. This means that even if all non-NDA parties unite, the BJP will survive a vote of no-confidence.
The newly-named INDIA alliance of opposition parties has 144 MPs, whereas “neutral” parties like the BRS, YSR Congress Party, and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) among others have a combined strength of 70.
A motion of no-confidence against the BJP-led central government was earlier moved in 2018, when Andhra Pradesh’s then-chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) quit the NDA over the state’s demand for special category status.
On 20 July that year, following a 12-hour debate during the Monsoon session of Parliament, the Modi government won the no-confidence motion, with 325 members opposing the motion and 126 supporting it.
Modi had then termed the no-confidence motion against his government a result of the Opposition’s “arrogance” and accused the Congress of working with the mindset of “Modi hatao” (remove Modi).
He had also said in Parliament in 2019, according to a clip of the proceedings, that the Opposition would bring a no-confidence motion in 2023.
History of no-confidence motions
Since Independence, the Lok Sabha has considered 27 motions of no-confidence.
Acharya J.B Kripalani introduced the first-ever motion of no-confidence in the Lok Sabha in August 1963 against then PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s government, following the 1962 India-China War.
The Lok Sabha then took up 15 motions of no confidence between 1964 and 1975. Three were against the Lal Bahadur Shastri government, while 12 were against the Indira Gandhi government. None of these, however, led to the fall of the government.
In 1979, Y.B. Chavan of the Congress initiated a vote of no-confidence against the Morarji Desai government, which ultimately led to the government’s downfall. After a two-day and nine-hour debate, Desai resigned before the motion could be put to vote.
Former PM Rajiv Gandhi faced one in 1987, which he defeated with a voice vote due to his resounding majority in the Lok Sabha.
In 1990, VP Singh’s government also lost a no-confidence motion after the BJP withdrew support over the Ram Mandir issue.
In 1993, a no-confidence motion was passed against the Narasimha Rao government after the Babri Masjid demolition. It won the vote.
In 2003, then Prime Minister A.B Vajpayee defeated then Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s vote of no-confidence. Earlier, during his short tenures as PM in 1996 and from 1998 to 99, Vajpayee had moved three motions of confidence to prove his majority in the House. He lost one such motion in April 1999 by just one vote.
In July 2008, the Manmohan Singh government won a trust vote after the CPM-led Left Front withdrew from the UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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