House fails to take up no-trust motion
new delhi — The Parliament on Monday could not transact any business as the opposition parties continued to stall proceedings over their demands, resulting a washout of the second part of the budget session for eleven consecutive days.
In Lok Sabha, no-confidence motions tabled by arch rivals Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress against the Modi government were not taken up in the Lok Sabha as the logjam continued amid no signs of thaw between the opposition and the government.
No substantive business could be transacted in last 11 days except for the passage of the Finance Bill, 2018 and relevant appropriation bills in the Lok Sabha.
After the House was adjourned for an hour and when it met again at 12 noon, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan sought to put the notices of the motion for leave of the House so that a discussion could be initiated. At least 50 members should back the motion for it to be admitted.
But as has been happening for the last two weeks, AIADMK and the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi members raised slogans and walked to her podium, shouting slogans in support of their demands, creating a din.
The TRS members were demanding the increase in the reservation quota for jobs in Telangana while AIADMK members wanted the setting up of a Cauvery Management Board.
Several opposition parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, the AIMIM and Rashtriya Janata Dal have expressed their support for the notices.
The Speaker called the members to stand up so that the numbers could be counted to see how many supported it.
But with members from the TRS and AIADMK holding placards and surrounding the Speaker’s dais, Mahajan said she could not count the members who were standing.
“Please go back to your seats. If the House is not in order, I will not bring the notices,” she said, before adjourning the House for the day.
Minutes before Mahajan made her comments, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government was ready to face the motion.
“We are ready for any discussion... We are also ready for a discussion on the no-confidence motion. I appeal to all political parties to cooperate,” he pleaded.
Earlier, the Lower House started with disruptions and was adjourned till noon within a couple of minutes amid noisy protests by AIADMK and TRS members.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters before the House met that the government had the numbers to defeat the motion.
“We are ready to face the noconfidence motion as we have support in the House. We are confident.”
Telugu Desam Party MP R.M. Naidu said they were trying to gather as much support as possible from all the opposition parties in Parliament knowing fully that the motion would fall because the government has enough numbers.
At present, the Lok Sabha has 539 members.
The BJP has 273 -- more than the half-way mark of 270. It also has the support of several allies like the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal.
But the Shiv Sena has said it would abstain. “We will support neither the government nor the Opposition,” said party MP Arvind Sawant.
Meanwhile, TDP MPs protested in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament, demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh. They were joined by Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury.
Scenes were no different in Rajya Sabha and amid the din the House was adjourned for the day within minutes after protests by TDP members.
Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House as opposition members trooped near his podium immediately after tabling of papers. —
It’s the responsibility of all the parties to support us. We are trying to gather as much support as possible so a debate happens. We are not trying to make the government fall R.M. Naidu, Telugu Desam MP