TDP-YSR Congress No-Confidence Motion Not Taken Up Amid Protests, Booing In Parliament: 10 Points

It remains uncertain if order will be restored in both houses of parliament today. (File)

Highlights

TDP will pitch for a no-confidence motion against government in Lok Sabha
A trust vote has to be backed by 50 members to be admitted
The motion does not endanger government, which has numbers in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: The no-confidence motions against the government, pitched by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and its arch-rival YSR Congress, were not taken up as Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day following uproar. As lawmakers protested and booed, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she could not bring the motion unless there was order. While most opposition parties, including the Congress, announced support for the motion, the government has the numbers to remain safe. The opposition said the move is about sending a message. It would also help the two south parties consolidate their position back home ahead of next year's assembly elections.

Here is your 10-point guide to the no-trust vote:

The Congress, Left Front, Samajwadi Party, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi, said they will support the TDP motion. But it will not endanger the government, as the NDA strength is still 315 in the 543-member house, way above the half-way mark of 272.
BJP ally Shiv Sena, known for acting as the proxy opposition, said it will abstain if the motion comes to vote. "We will neither support the government nor the opposition," said the party's Arvind Sawant. Three opposition parties - Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK, Telangana's TRS and Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal -- are neutral to the issue and expected to walk out.
Though the opposition lacks the numbers to fell the government, they say it is an opportunity to put forth their views. At the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex, where the TDP and the Congress started the day by holding a protest, Congress's Renuka Choudhury said, "it is not about numbers, but teaching the government a lesson".
On the floor of the House, Union minister Rajnath Singh said the government was not averse to a discussion, even on a no-confidence motion.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan initially adjourned Lok Sabha till noon as protesting members of the TRS and the AIADMK trooped to the well of the house. The AIADMK was protesting over the Cauvery waters issue and the TRS had another set of demands.Later, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha for the day.
"I am duty bound to bring the no-confidence motion... But I cannot do so that unless the House is in order," Sumitra Mahajan said. The issue created ripples in Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned for the day.
AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi has said the support to the no-confidence motion is about "sending a message to the government". On Friday, announcing CPM's support, Sitaram Yechury tweeted that the government's "all-round failure and evasion of parliamentary accountability needs to be highlighted".
The TDP, once the BJP's biggest ally in south, pulled out of the government last week over the special status issue. They sent a notice for a trust vote after arch-rival Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress sent a notice. The two parties are seen as involved in one-upmanship ahead of next year's assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Mr Reddy's YSR Congress sent another notice for a no-confidence motion and said their lawmakers will resign on the last day of the budget session if it is not taken up. Party leader VS Reddy said Mr Naidu has "no interest in the state" and is looking for "personal advantage", he said.
Mr Naidu's party claims the YSR Congress and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan are acting as BJP stooges. The BJP is using them to divide the electorate and erode the TDP's support base in the state, the party has said.