The Lower House of India’s Parliament has asserted its trust in the Narendra Modi government on July 20 in a no confidence motion moved by the opposition (325-126). It was remarkable, though undoubtedly expected.
This House has trust in this government, said the Lok Sabha unequivocally. The time was around midnight and after a 12 hour-long marathon debate in which Congress President, Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi came to an eye-ball-to-eye-ball confrontation and a one-sided deep hug and a wink. Yes, the House did send a message loud and clear that it has got deep trust and faith in the Modi government. But has the people approved of it? Well, in a democracy Parliament, especially Lok Sabha, is the people’s voice and conscience, they say.
After a lapse of 15 years a no confidence motion was moved against a central Government. The last one was against the Vajpayee government (NDA) in 2003. Vajpayee sailed through. This was the first no confidence motion against the four and a half year old Modi government. There was a crisis of confidence building up between Modi government and the opposition for quite some time. Has this defeat of the no confidence motion ended this and restored the confidence? No. On the contrary it has only aggravated the crisis. It is quite natural in a democracy. And this will spill over to the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In fact this no confidence motion and the fierce debate have exposed the chinks in the armory of the NDA as well as the UPA. However, it was a curtain raiser for the next Lok Sabha polls.
The no trust motion was moved by the YSR Congress in the budget session of Parliament. It was however stonewalled by the Speaker and the government. And the MPs of YSR Congress resigned. Their one and only grouse was against the denial of special status to Andhra Pradesh as was promised by the NDA government and Modi. TDP and its leader Chandrababu Naidu raised the same issue in the monsoon session. Unlike the previous time the government surprised the TDP and the entire opposition by admitting it and agreeing for a debate. The government was sure that it can defeat the opposition. The opposition was certain that it won’t win. But it can expose the government and its policy failure and governance deficit. It succeeded in this to some extent. The government wanted to prove that it was not wary of any no confidence motion. It took the opposition head on and proved its point to some extent.
If the main issue was the special status for Andhra Pradesh, Modi made it clear that it was not going to happen. This may have given the TDP some political mileage. The point is that the BJP has no stakes at all in Andhra Pradesh. It won’t affect it in the 2019elections. Te TDP may have some upper hand over the YSR Congress on account of this. But remember, the YSR Congress has resigned from Lok Sabha on account of this. This will go to their advantage. It should be taken into consideration that the TDP had withdrawn two of its Union ministers from the council of ministers on account of the denial of special status. That too matters.
There are more highlights to the motion debate before coming to the Rahul-Modi confrontation. No confidence and no trust motions are nothing new to the history of Indian democracy and parliament. This was the 27th of such trust and no-trust motions. The first-ever no confidence motion was moved against the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1963 in the aftermath of the 1962 October war with China. Indira Gandhi faced the maximum number of no trust motions- 15. After the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, a no trust motion was moved against the Narasimha Rao government next year which it won. The most framatic of it was the 1999 no confidence motion against the Vajpayee government after AIADMK leader Jayalaltha, withdrew support. Vajpayee government was ousted by one vote! Vajpayee came back to power in the same year with the same strength. There was again a no confidence motion against the Vajpayee government in 2003 which it won. In 2008 after the CPM-led Left withdrew support from the Manmohan Singh government on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal, a trust motion was moved and the government won it.
The opposition had put up a good show in the motion debate. TDP which moved the motion succeeded in narrating the betrayal of the NDA government in according the special status to the State. But that was not all. It did not have the numbers to put the government on the mat. It however proved its point.
The Shiv Sena gave vote a miss delivering a blow the NDA.It may be noted that it was an erstwhile ally of the NDA (TDP) which moved the no confidence motion and it was an ally which abstained from the voting. But the abstentions of Biju Janata Dal and Telengana Rashtra Samiti were a setback for the opposition unity and the so-called grand alliance. But the support of AIADMK came as a booster for the NDA. This is a straw in the wind for the 2019 elections.
Home minister Rajnath Singh struck a discordant note when he tried to justify mob lynching by cow vigilantes of hapless Muslim cattle traders by equating it with the 1984 anti-Sikh rioters. Though the Supreme Court had only a couple of days ago asked the Centre to restrain the cow vigilante groups and take stern action them, the Home Minister said there were such atrocities in India, for example the anti-Sikh riots. What message the Home Minister wanted to convey? He, however, conveniently forgot to mention anything about the 2002 Gujarat riots presided over by the then State Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. What kind of a hypocrisy and deception is this? The government may have defeated the no trust motion. But can it ignore truth?
Rahul Gandhi launched a blistering attack on Modi and the government. He attacked Modi on a wide ranging issues. This include crony capitalism, defense deals, farmers’ woes, insecurity of women etc. His scathing attack on Modi on Rafale deal stood out. But Rahul’s factual accuracy was questioned by Modi and Defense Minister and later on by the French government. This needs further clarification.
Before concluding his speech Rahul told Modi : ‘You can abuse me, you can call me Pappu, but I don’t have a speck of hatred against you. I will turn this hatred out of you and turn it into love’. He then walked to Modi and hugged him. Modi was taken by surprise. He did not hugg Rahul back. This was the climax of the no trust. Later he winked at his party colleagues claiming scoring a smart point. Was it smart or not will be known in due course of time. The hug may be smart, but the wink was doubtful.
After his usually powerful speech Modi said : The debate was not over but one member (Rahul) comes running to me saying, utho utho (get up) …What is his hurry to come to power?... I pray to Lord Shiva to give you the strength to bring a no confidence motion in 2024’. Modi made it clear that he is going to come back to power in 2019 as well. Well that may be a politician putting up a brave front. But the next day he denounced Rahul’s ‘unwanted hug’. There is a trust deficit of course.
