What Is No-Confidence Motion: All You Need To Know

A no-confidence motion is moved by the Opposition party to force the government to prove its majority.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accepted a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. The no-confidence motion was moved by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on behalf of the Opposition alliance bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) where they demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should address the Manipur issue in Lok Sabha. Om Birla said he would inform the members about the date for a discussion on the matter as per rules after discussing the same with leaders of all parties.

“Today, it has been decided that we would not have any other alternative but to resort to a no-confidence motion because the government is not accepting the demand of the opposition to have an elaborate discussion with the Prime Minister on Manipur,” Congress’s Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

What Is No-Confidence Motion

A no-confidence motion is moved by the Opposition party to force the government to prove its majority. If the government is not able to prove its majority in the House, it has to resign. Till now, no-confidence motion has never been moved to force the government to speak on issues.

How Can No-Confidence Motion Be Moved

A no-confidence motion can be moved by any member of the Lok Sabha. Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Lok Sabha specifies the procedure for moving a no-confidence motion. The member has to give a written notice of the motion before 10 am which will be read out by the Speaker in the House.

How A No-Confidence Motion Is Debated And Voted

A minimum of 50 members have to support the no-confidence motion and the Speaker will accordingly announce the date for discussion for the motion. The allotted date has to be within 10 days from the day the motion is accepted. If not, the motion fails and the member who moved the motion has to be informed about it.

No-Confidence Motion: Should BJP Govt Be Worried

The Opposition block moved the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre despite having fewer members. The Lok Sabha currently has a strength of 543 seats of which five are vacant. The BJP-led NDA has over 330 members with BJP alone having 303 members.

The opposition alliance Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has over 140 and over 60 members belonging to ‘neutral parties’ who are not aligned with any of the two groups. The numbers are in favour of the BJP government and the no-confidence motion by the opposition parties is bound to fail the numbers test. The Opposition, however, said they would win the battle of perception by cornering the government on the Manipur issue during the debate.

How Many No-Confidence Motions Have Been Moved So Far

The first no-confidence motion was moved in 1963 by Acharya J B Kripalani against the government headed by then Prime Minister Jawarhal Nehru. “A no-confidence motion aims at or should aim at removing the party in government and taking its place. It is clear in the present instance that there was no such expectation or hope. And so the debate, although it was interesting in many ways and, I think profitable too, was a little unreal. Personally, I have welcomed this motion and this debate. I have felt that it would be a good thing if we were to have periodical tests of this kind,” Nehru had then said in his response to the no-confidence motion against him, according to a report by The Indian Express.

So far, 27 no-confidence motions including the latest one in Lok Sabha have been moved in the past. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi faced the maximum number of no-confidence motions 15 times.

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