Congress confident about winning Friday’s no-confidence motion against Modi govt
The Congress and Telugu Desam Party were among the Opposition parties that moved the motion on Wednesday, the first day of the monsoon session. It will be held on Friday.
The Congress has expressed confidence about winning the no-trust motion against the Narendra Modi government, slated to be taken up in Parliament on Friday, although the odds seem overwhelmingly in the BJP’s favour.
“Who says we don’t have the numbers?” news agency ANI quoted Congress leader Sonia Gandhi as saying, when asked if the Opposition stood a chance of emerging victorious.
The Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) were among the Opposition parties that moved the motion on Wednesday, the first day of the monsoon session. Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan later announced that the House would take up the motion on Friday.
“The House will take up the debate (on the motion) on July 20. The discussion will be held for the full day, followed by voting on it,” Mahajan said when the House reassembled after the lunch break. There will be no Question Hour that day and the House would not conduct any other business either, she added.
The saffron party has 273 members in the Lok Sabha, without taking political allies into account.
Speaking to the media ahead of the session, Modi said: “We hope Parliament functions smoothly, whatever issues any party has, it can raise on the floor of the house. The government is ready for discussions on all issues.”
“Many important decisions in nation’s interest will be taken up in the monsoon session. We hope for good suggestions and discussions from all experienced members,” he added.
The prime minister’s office had earlier expressed the hope that the session would be fruitful. “May the productivity of the forthcoming session and the rich levels of debate also become a source of inspiration for the various state assemblies,” it tweeted.
Estranged NDA ally TDP had served the notice for a no-confidence motion to the Lok Sabha secretariat on Tuesday, so it could be taken up on Wednesday. The Congress was also in talks with other like-minded parties to support similar moves, the party’s Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge said.
