What to expect in the No Confidence Motion in Lok Sabha slated for August 8

The much-awaited debate on the no-confidence motion is likely to come up in Lok Sabha on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 8 and 9, before being put to vote. The no-confidence motion, which was moved by the Congress and supported by the newly formed opposition bloc INDIA, was accepted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla last week.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply on August 10. 

What’s a No-Confidence Motion? 

In a democracy like India, a government can be in power only if it can prove its majority in the directly elected House of the parliament, Lok Sabha. The No-Confidence Motion is the mechanism to test the government’s majority as prescribed by the Constitution. 

The Article 75(3) of the Constitution says the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.  To test the collective responsibility of the MPs, the Lok Sabha allows the Motion of No-confidence, which is also called the Vote of No Confidence.  

Any lower house MP, who has the support of 50 colleagues, can, at any point of time, introduce the motion of no-confidence against the Council of Ministers. This has been specified under the Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. 

Once a ‘no-confidence’ motion is moved in the Lok Sabha, and the Speaker is of the opinion that the motion is proper, then s/he reads out the motion to the house. A minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion. If not, then the motion fails and is not admitted for discussion. 

A vote takes place at the end of the debate among Lok Sabha members on the motion. If the motion passes, the government has to vacate office. 

On the other hand, the prime minister can also move a ‘confidence’ motion in order to prove the strength of the government in the Lok Sabha. 

A No-Confidence Motion can only be moved in the Lok Sabha. 

Here are the top points:

• On July 26, the Lok Sabha admitted a No-Confidence Motion moved by Opposition parties against the BJP-led government. 

• As per the rules of No-Confidence Motion, MPs who support the motion highlight the government’s shortcomings, and the Treasury Benches respond to the issues and answer the Opposition. 

• At the end of the debate, a vote takes place among Lok Sabha members on the motion. If the motion passes, the government has to vacate office. 

• One should remember that in tomorrow’s No Confidence Motion, the Opposition doesn’t have the desired numbers to topple the government.  

• Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Gaurav Gogoi have already admitted that the Opposition does not have the numbers to pass the motion. 

 •But this motion can be used by the Opposition to force the government to address their concerns about the situation in Manipur. 

• In terms of numbers, the NDA government has 331 members. BJP alone has 303 MPs. The majority mark in the Parliament is 272.   

• On the other hand, INDIA bloc has 144 MPs. 

• There are ‘neutral’ parties such as the BRS, YSRCP and the BJD, which have a collective strength of 70.

•    In the past, Lok Sabha has witnessed 27 No Confidence Motions. But none have succeeded so far. 

•    However, in 1979, a no-confidence motion moved against the Morarji Desai government led to his resignation, even though the debate remained inconclusive and there was no voting.

•    However, three times, the ruling government failed to prove their majority in a vote of confidence. These governments -- the V P Singh government in 1990, H D Deve Gowda government in 1997 and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999 -- fell when the vote of confidence session were being done after the discussion. 

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