New Delhi, India

The Manipur violence has stirred a battle between the warring factions in India's politics and continues to remain a hot topic during the Monsoon Session of the parliament. The newly-formed opposition alliance INDIA is going all guns blazing to corner the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lower house. Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which is a coalition of 26 opposition parties, is planning to bring a no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha on Tuesday against the central government.

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As per media reports, the debate on the motion is scheduled to start on August 8 and is likely to extend over the following two days, August 9 and 10. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, whose membership in the House was reinstated on Monday, is expected to kick off the discussion. 

Even though the chances of a no-confidence motion turning out in favour of the opposition alliance parties are extremely slim, the opposition is vying to build pressure to push PM Modi to speak in the House over the Manipur issue. 

What is a no-confidence motion? 

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The no-confidence motion is a parliamentary way by which the opposition gets the ability to demonstrate that the government lacks the confidence of the House. In order to prove that it still retains the confidence of the MPs, the government must prove a majority in the House. In case the government fails to prove the majority, it falls. This is because the government is only authorised to govern as long as it enjoys a majority in the House. 

To move the no-confidence motion, a Lok Sabha MP moving the motion needs the backing/signatures of at least 50 members of the House. 

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Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Lok Sabha lays out the procedure for moving a no-confidence motion. The member must first provide written notice of the motion to the Secretary-General before 10 am to be read by House Speaker.

The motion can only be introduced in Lok Sabha, not in the Rajya Sabha. 

No-confidence motion accepted

The ethnic clashes in the Manipur violence have brought together a majority of opposition parties. They now stand ready to call out the Indian government for its alleged mishandling of the Manipur situation. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has moved the no-confidence motion on behalf of the opposition INDIA alliance. The information about the no-confidence motion having moved was given to media outlets by Lok Sabha Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. 

“Manipur has been suffering and we have tried for so many days to get a statement from the Prime Minister,” Chowdhury told media.

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The motion was submitted on July 26 at 9.20 am at the Lok Sabha table office. 

After the motion was moved by Gogoi, the Lok Sabha member from the Northeast, the House Speaker Om Birla accepted the same. As per the established procedure, the date and time of the debate is decided after consultation with all parties regarding the motion. 

Scheduling of no-confidence motion

The monsoon session commenced on July 20 and will continue till August 11. As per the procedure, Lok Sabha Speaker has 10 days to schedule a no-confidence motion debate. This is because the date for the motion debate, as per the rules, must be scheduled within 10 days of its acceptance.

Support needed for adoption of the motion 

According to the current numbers, the Lok Sabha majority mark is 272. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has 331 members, which includes 303 BJP MPs. Meanwhile, the opposition INDIA alliance has 144 MPs, while parties such as YS Jagan Reddy's YSRCP, KCR's BRS, and Naveen Patnaik's BJD together have 70 MPs.

When can the government fall? 

In case the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition is passed, the President of India schedules one or more days to discuss the motion. The government also gets the chance to prove its majority. In case, it fails to do so, the Cabinet must resign or else it will be dismissed.

No-confidence motion in previous governments 

This is not the first time that the no-confidence motion is being moved in the lower house of the Indian Parliament. Modi government previously faced a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on July 20, 2018. However, it failed as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had 325 MPs voting against the motion and only 126 opposition MPs voting in favour. Therefore, the motion failed by 199 votes.

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India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru also faced a no-confidence motion which was moved by Congress leader Acharya Kripalani in August 1963. The motion was defeated. Governments led by former PM Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, VP Singh, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee collapsed due to no-confidence motions. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is the one Indian leader who faced the most number of no-confidence motions, totalling 15. 

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