CONGRESS GIVES NOCONFIDENCE MOTION NOTICE AGAINST GOVT

NEW DELHI: The Congress served notice of a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, as proceedings continued to be disrupted on Friday amid protests by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the ruling parties of Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

In the principal opposition party’s first attempt to initiate a no-trust move since the NDA government assumed office in May 2014, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, wrote to the Lower House’s secretary general requesting that the notice be included in the revised list of business for Tuesday.

The Telugu Desam Party, (TDP) which recently quit the ruling coalition at the Centre, and the YSR Congress Party have already filed notices of no-confidence motions against the government over the denial of so-called special category status for Andhra Pradesh, where they are the ruling party and the main opposition, respectively.

The notices have not been taken up because of disruptions in Parliament.

The TRS and the AIADMK continued their protests in the House on Friday to press their demands for an increase in job quotas in Telangana and the setting up of a board to manage the Cauvery waters, the subject of a dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.