I.N.D.I.A plans no-confidence motion, notices to be submitted on Wednesday

I.N.D.I.A parties are likely to go ahead with the motion despite their numbers in Parliament, as they believe that it is the only way to make the PM speak on Manipur.

The Opposition I.N.D.I.A is likely to bring a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government at the earliest in what they call their attempt to force the Prime Minister to speak about the Manipur ethnic violence in Parliament, sources said on Tuesday.

Floor managers are working overtime to ensure that around 50 Lok Sabha MPs file notices before 10 am on Wednesday itself to ensure that Speaker Om Birla examine the notices and see whether it has the support of at least 50 MPs in the floor of Lok Sabha and then decide the date for debate.

An Opposition manager said the filing of notices is a “work in progress” while another leader said that delaying the process may not be pragmatic. The Congress has issued a three-line Whip to its MPs to be present in Lok Sabha.

As the stalemate over the Manipur issue escalated, the Congress had an informal discussion with the Trinamool Congress and the DMK and then took the proposal to other I.N.D.I.A partners during a meeting chaired by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday.

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The thinking in the Opposition camp is that they should not delay the filing of the motion though they know that the numbers are stacked against them as the ruling BJP alone has 301 seats and it would comfortably romp home with allies and garner at least 335 votes, including three independents.

This does not include parties like YSR Congress (22), BJD (12), BSP (9), Akali Dal (2) and JD-S (1). The I.N.D.I.A partners and other Opposition parties, including AIMIM and BRS, can gather a maximum of 154 votes.

The opening speaker of I.N.D.I.A parties is likely to be Congress’ Manish Tewari, while all the big guns from other parties will also be fielded to corner the Modi government. Sources said a couple of parties were not enthused with the idea but fell in line after seeing the overwhelming response to it.

Sources said the I.N.D.I.A parties are moving ahead despite being aware of the results, as they believe that it is the only way to make the Prime Minister speak on the Manipur issue. They do not think that a defeat in the no-confidence motion would be detrimental to their political positions.

“We have no option left. We tried all avenues. We will be able to convince the public that we do not have any other option other than this to ensure that the Prime Minister comes to Parliament and speaks about a burning issue,” a senior I.N.D.I.A leader told DH.

Sources said a decision on who would lead the charge against the Modi government would be decided soon and a notice for the motion would be submitted soon.

A united I.N.D.I.A and other Opposition parties are vociferously demanding that Modi first give a statement on Manipur violence, which should be followed by a discussion. The government appears to be willing to go for a debate, with Home Minister Amit Shah responding to the discussion, but the ruling party been non-committal about Modi’s intervention.

According to Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, the Speaker would consider a notice submitted before 10 am on that day and admit it once a head count is done, where he checks whether it has the support of more than 50 lawmakers. The notice is rejected if 50 lawmakers do not support it.

Once the Speaker is satisfied that the notice has the support of 50 MPs, he would then decide a day, which is within ten days of admitting the notice, on which it would be taken up.