Govt faces no-trust vote; BJP confident of punching holes in Oppn's efforts

Govt faces no-trust vote; BJP confident of punching holes in Oppn's efforts

Govt faces no-trust vote; BJP confident of punching holes in Oppn's efforts on Business Standard. The BJP has also upped the ante in its criticism of the Congress, and has succeeded in catching it on the wrong foot

Latest News Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan surprised the Opposition on Wednesday, the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, when she not only accepted their notices for a noconfidence motion against the Narendra Modi government but also announced that the debate and voting on the motion would be held as early as Friday.

During the Budget session in March, Mahajan had pointed to disruptions in the House for not taking up a discussion on the notices of noconfidence motion, drawing criticism from opposition parties.

According to sources, this change in the government’s strategy of being amenable to facing a no-confidence motion came at the suggestion of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah.

If the Opposition believes it will use the debate to embarrass the government on a host of issues, the BJP brass thinks the Opposition has offered it a gilded opportunity, that too close to elections

to three key north Indian states, and the Lok Sabha polls not far away.

The PM has already started addressing public rallies across the country. The BJP has also upped the ante in its criticism of the Congress, and has succeeded in catching it on the wrong foot by describing it a party for Muslims. Modi’s reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with his speech set to be telecast live, is expected to mark the launch of his campaign for the 2019 polls.

Unless the PM does the unthinkable by quitting and recommending the dissolution of the House, which will also pave the way for much speculated early Lok Sabha elections, there is little danger to his government. In the Lok Sabha, the BJP continues to command a majority of its own in the House.

Therefore, the no-confidence motion will be less about number-crunching and more about optics.

The Opposition will try to embarrass the government on a host of issues – agrarian distress, atrocities on dalits, special status for

Andhra Pradesh, increase in deposits of Indians in Swiss banks, lynching incidents, foreign policy, and economy.

READ MORE Source : BS