No-trust motion: Congress president Rahul Gandhi is the party's lead speaker today
Highlights
- BJP has been assigned three hours and 33 minutes
- Ruling BJP enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha
- "We request you to not put a time limit": Congress's Mallikarjun Kharge
Just before the start of the no-confidence motion debate in parliament, the Congress protested loudly in the Lok Sabha about its speakers being allotted less time. The Congress has been allocated 38 minutes in the seven-hour debate and Rahul Gandhi is the lead speaker.
The ruling BJP, which enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha, has been assigned three hours and 33 minutes.
"This is a very important motion, people will be watching very closely. We request you to not put a time limit," said Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
"This is a no-confidence motion, the opposition should be given more time to speak than the government," he argued, as across the floor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked on.
Rejecting the argument, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said a time limit had to be enforced. "What you said, that there should not be any time limit, is something only God can say," she said.
No-trust motion: The main mover of the no-confidence motion against the government, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) initiated the debate and was allocated 13 minutes by the Speaker.
Taking a dig at speakers who ignore time limits and repeated warnings to wind up their statement, Ms Mahajan said: "You will any way take more time."
The main mover of the no-confidence motion against the government, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) initiated the debate and was allocated 13 minutes by the Speaker.
Other opposition parties such as the AIADMK, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal and Telangana Rashtra Samithi have been allocated 29 minutes, 27 minutes, 15 minutes and nine minutes.
Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted yesterday, saying 38 minutes were allocated for an earthquake in the house and 13 minutes for the mover of the motion.
The Congress chief had famously said in a previous session that if he were allowed to speak, there would be an earthquake in parliament.