The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has announced a fixed duration of 17 hours for the discussion on the motion of no-confidence motion scheduled in the upcoming parliamentary session. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi is set to reply to the motion on August 10.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday admitted a no-confidence motion moved by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi against the Narendra Modi government after a head count of over 50 MPs as per the requirement under the rules, as reported by the news agency PTI. He said a date and time for discussion on it will be fixed by him after consultation with all parties.
Om Birla said he had received a notice from Gogoi for moving a motion of no-confidence against the government. He asked members supporting the admission of the motion to stand after which INDIA alliance members, including Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, stood up for a head count, as reported by PTI.
Birla then admitted the motion expressing want of confidence in the Union Council of Ministers. The alliance of 26 opposition parties, INDIA, had decided to move the motion in order to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak in Parliament on the Manipur violence, senior leaders of the front said. The Opposition parties contend that it is also a strategy to make the prime minister speak in Parliament on the crucial matter, even as the government has been insisting that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will reply to the debate on the Manipur situation.
Earlier, Manickam Tagore, Congress whip in Lok Sabha, said the No-Confidence Motion was the Opposition's last weapon against the government. "INDIA alliance is together, INDIA alliance has proposed this idea and yesterday it was decided. We wanted to break the arrogance of Modi. He is behaving as an arrogant person - not to come to the Parliament and make a statement on Manipur...We feel that it is our duty to use this last weapon," ANI quoted Tagore as saying.