NO CONFIDENCE MOTION

NO CONFIDENCE MOTION

Context:

• Recently, the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) grouping has decided to move a no-confidence motion against the JBP-led NDA  government in Lok Sabha.

What is a no-confidence motion?

• A no-confidence motion can be moved only in the Lok Sabha and by any member of the House.
• The member has to give a written notice of the motion before 10 am and at least 50 members have to accept the motion.
• The Speaker will then decide the date for discussion of the motion.
• If 51% of the members of the house vote in favour of the “No Confidence Motion”, it is passed and the Government is deemed to have lost majority and has to resign from office.
• Although, Article 75 does specify that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.

Prelims facts:

1. Since Independence, 27 no-confidence motions have been moved in Lok Sabha.
2. The first 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. The motion, however, was defeated.
3. Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister faced the most number of no-confidence motions – 15. She survived each of the 15 floor tests. Former West Bengal CM Jyotirmoy Basu of the CPI(M) has moved four no-confidence motions.
4. 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.
5. The last no-confidence motion was in 2003 when the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi moved the motion against Vajpayee.
6. The duration of the longest debate on a no-confidence motion was 24.34 hours against Lal Bahadur Shastri, who has had to prove the majority of the House thrice.
7. 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 after their ally AIADMK pulled out of the coalition.
8. 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.

Syllabus: Prelims