NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Despite a spate of scams, controversies and confrontations, the current Lok Sabha is expected to go down in history as one which has not witnessed a no confidence motion or a trust vote.
The current Lok Sabha’s term is set to expire by May next year by which time Parliament elections will be held.
The Congress-led coalition appears to be sitting pretty despite it losing allies like Trinamool Congress and DMK and opposition having no plans to bring a no confidence motion in the next two sessions either.
“We are well aware that the Congress has more than enough numbers. Janata Dal (United) has recently joined the ranks of those supporting the ruling party. Sonia Gandhi has also kept the DMK in good humour by backing Kanimozhi’s Rajya Sabha nomination while the disproportionate assets case has brought SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav closer to Congress,” a senior BJP leader, who is one of the top decision makers in Parliament, said.
The leader, who declined to be identified, remarked that it would be foolish to bring a no trust motion in such a scenario.
Another opposition leader said Yadav as also BSP chief Mayawati have always helped the Government and therefore it was futile to even think of any no confidence motion.
In fact, when the DMK parted ways earlier this year on the issue of the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils, government managers had sent out ‘all is well’ signal.
Mamata Banerjee’s attempt to bring a no confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh Ministry last year close on the heels of her parting ways with the Congress-led UPA also came a cropper.
Interestingly, the move could not even take off as Banerjee’s party failed to muster the support of even 50 members, the minimum required for bringing a no trust motion.
This was despite the fact that several parties including the Left were against FDI in retail, the issue on which Mamata Banerjee’s party, which was second largest in the UPA, had left the coalition.
A Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, took a dig at the opposition saying that its failure to bring a no trust motion showed lack of confidence in itself.
“They even asked for the resignation of Prime Minister, but never asked that elections be held early,” the leader said noting that if they had come up with a no confidence motion, it would have been just a symbolic gesture.
The last no-trust motion was moved in 2003 by Congress president Sonia Gandhi against the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which was easily defeated in Parliament. The motion was defeated by 314 to 189 votes.
The last confidence motion was in the the last Lok Sabha when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opted for it in 2008 in the wake of the Left parties withdrawing support on the issue of the Indo-US nuclear deal. (PTI)
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