Earlier this month, 26 opposition parties formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). 

On the fifth day of the Monsoon session of the Parliament, several MPs from opposition parties have given notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to suspend all other business, listed for the day including the Zero Hour as well as Question Hour and discuss the situation of the violence-hit state.

What is no-confidence motion?

This can only be moved in Lok Sabha by any member of the house. If a memeber of the House feels the government in power does not have a majority then only no-confidence motion can be moved. And, if the motion is accepted by the Speaker , the the ruling party in the Centre needs to prove its amjority in the House.

Notably, the opposition parties have less than 150 members at the in the Lower House, so in case they table a no-confidence motion, they are bound to be defeated. Also, they might not get that much time during the debate in Lok Sabha, as time is allocated according to the strength of parties in the House.

No-confidence motion rules:

The Lok Sabha member has to give a written notice of the motion before 10 am which will be read out by the Speaker in the House.

Minimum 50 members have to accept the motion.

The allotted date has to be within 10 days from the day the motion is accepted otherwise the motion fails. If the government is not able to prove its majority in the House, then the government of the day has to resign.

A flashback on no-confidence motion in Indian politics:

-Since India’s Independence, 27 no-confidence motions have been moved in Lok Sabha.

– The first-two no-confidence motion was moved against Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru by Congress leader Acharya Kripalani in August 1963, immediately after losing to China in the 1962 war. 

–Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister faced maximum no-confidence motions – 15. She survived each of the 15 floor tests.

– Narasimha Rao had to face three no-confidence motions, Morarji Desai two and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi have all faced one each.

-The last no-confidence motion was in 2003 when the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi moved the motion against Vajpayee.

-Most no-confidence motions have been defeated except in 1979 when Prime Minister Morarji Desai had to quit and 1999 when the Vajpayee government lost power.

-In 2018, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government survived the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha by 195 votes. While 135 members supported the motion, 330 MPs rejected it.

Updated: 26 Jul 2023, 11:13 AM IST