New Delhi: The Lok Sabha speaker today admitted the Congress motion seeking a no-trust vote over the ongoing ethnic-clashes in Manipur. The speaker is yet to announce a date for the vote. The violence in Manipur has been a key reason for the continuous logjam in both the Houses of Parliament since the Monsoon Session began on July 20.
The no-confidence motion, filed by Congress's Gaurav Gogoi, needed the backing of 50 members in the house, a number they easily achieved with the back of other Congress lawmakers as well as those who are part of the 'I.N.D.I.A' coalition.
MPs belonging to the Opposition alliance bloc INDIA, including Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, DMK's TR Baalu and NCP leader Supriya Sule, stood up for the head count when the Lok Sabha speaker presented the motion.
A separate no-confidence motion was also filed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which has only nine members in the House and hence could not muster the necessary support.
In the 543-member Lok Sabha, the ruling NDA currently has a strength of 331. The Opposition I.N.D.I.A alliance has 144 members in the house.
Even though the opposition parties to not have the numbers to win a floor test, they argue that they will win the battle of perception by cornering the government on the Manipur issue during the debate.
They 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.
Opposition members have resorted to protests and sloganeering in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, forcing repeated adjournments of the two Houses since the commencement of the monsoon session of Parliament on July 20.
The government has said it is ready for discussion on Manipur but the opposition parties are pressing for discussion under a rule which also entails voting.