After govt wins no-trust vote, Modi tweets 125 crore Indians support him.
-Utkarsh Upadhyay
* PM Modi said the government has confidence of 125 crore Indians.
* He said yesterday the nation saw how Congress is interested in creating instability.
* He tweeted that he will continue to fight corruption and black money.
The 12-hour debate on the no-confidence motion moved against the Narendra Modi government was fierce, but in the end the Treasury carried the day and the Opposition saw some depletion in its ranks when the votes were counted.
The NDA ranks, which should have totalled up to 312, came down to 294 with the Shiv Sena’s 18 members refusing to participate in the day’s proceedings.
However, the ruling coalition got a shot in the arm with the AIADMK voting with the government. With the southern support, the numbers for the government should have gone upto 331, with the AIADMK’s 37 MPs. However, the tally on the electronic board at voting was 325 MPs with the government; that meant that four AIADMK MPs and two BJP MPs did not vote.
The 12-hour debate on the no-confidence motion moved against the Narendra Modi government was fierce, but in the end the Treasury carried the day and the Opposition saw some depletion in its ranks when the votes were counted. The Hindu spoke to the floor managers of major parties involved in the debate and an interesting picture has emerged on voting preferences.
The NDA ranks, which should have totalled up to 312, came down to 294 with the Shiv Sena’s 18 members refusing to participate in the day’s proceedings.
However, the ruling coalition got a shot in the arm with the AIADMK voting with the government. With the southern support, the numbers for the government should have gone upto 331, with the AIADMK’s 37 MPs. However, the tally on the electronic board at voting was 325 MPs with the government; that meant that four AIADMK MPs and two BJP MPs did not vote.
The BJP managed to hold on to its flock with micro-monitoring by party president Amit Shah, and newly appointed chief whip Anurag Thakur. “On Wednesday, nearly 32 MPs were not in Delhi; they were summoned immediately, with two MPs being brought in to vote on stretchers,” said a source.
The AIADMK voted against the no-confidence motion. All 37 MPs were present in the House. “The Narendra Modi government has only a year to go and they are going to face elections soon. We believe that every State or Union government should be allowed to continue for five years,” AIADMK floor leader P. Venugopal told.
Eleven members of the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) walked out before the vote, and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) abstained.
The strength of those opposing the government should have stood at 144, but the electronic board showed only 126. In the Congress, two members were absent including Madhya Pradesh Pradesh Congress Committee President Kamal Nath and Arunachal Pradesh MP Ninong Ering. “Both Mr Nath and Mr Ering had sought permission to be absent,” Congress Chief Whip K.C. Venugopal said.
Whereas , What Rahul Gandhi did was pure stunt!
HIGHLIGHTS
* Rahul Gandhi stunned the nation with his hug to PM Narendra Modi.
* Rahul Gandhi proved he has much to learn about parliamentary decorum.
*Rahul Gandhi may even earn a privilege notice by his “objectionable” words and actions.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on July 20 may have stunned the nation with his hugging of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech on the no-confidence motion but his action can only be termed as stunt.
In an unprecedented drama witnessed in the Lok Sabha today, Rahul Gandhi proved he has much to learn not just about parliamentary procedures but also parliamentary decorum. Rahul Gandhi may even earn a privilege notice for his “objectionable” words and actions.
Towards the end of his speech and in an unprecedented gesture, Rahul Gandhi walked all the way from the opposition benches to the treasury benches and hugged PM Modi who was obviously taken by surprise.
But this did not amuse Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. She told Rahul Gandhi that it was not needed. “No, this is not necessary, No…,” she said.
The prime minister regained composure after Rahul Gandhi’s sudden and strange behaviour. He was seen calling Rahul back, shaking hands with him and telling him something with a smile.
By then Sumitra Mahajan had called Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to reply to Rahul’s charges obviously thinking that his speech had got over. Nirmala Sitharaman said Rahul Gandhi was misleading the House and claimed that the agreement on secrecy clause was signed during their (UPA’s) rule.
But what Rahul Gandhi did after returning to his seat exposed his true intentions behind the hug. He said being a Hindu meant that whatever was thrown on someone, it was accepted with love.
But Speaker Sumitra Mahajan castigated Rahul Gandhi. She reminded him that this was Parliament and asked him not to turn it into a “drama”.
Sumitra Mahajan also said the House has its own set of rules and which has to be followed. (“Ye House hai, ise naatak nahi banaao. Aisa nahi hai. Ye House hai. House ke apne kuchh niyam hain.”)
She asked Rahul Gandhi to be seated as his speech had got over and asked the defence minister to start her reply.
During his speech, Rahul Gandhi had also named Union minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal stating that she was smiling at him when the house was adjourned in the midst of his speech. He meant that the minister was praising him.
Replying to Rahul Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur Badal hit him hard. Like Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, she too reminded Rahul that this was Parliament and there were certain behaviours to be followed.
“Ye sansad hai. Ye Munnabhai ka pappi-jhappi area nahi hai,” she said, alluding to Bollywood blockbuster ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ starring Sanjay Dutt where the actor is seen hugging friends and foes alike.
She obviously made fun of Rahul Gandhi’s “hugplomacy” with PM Modi.
The Congress president has been a bitter critic of PM Modi hugging world leaders and has termed it “hugplomacy”. However, he was seen doing exactly that today.
Besides these, Rahul Gandhi was prompted to follow parliamentary procedures when he took names of BJP president Amit Shah and his son and also BJP’s ideological parent – the RSS.
Sumitra Mahajan had these references expunged and asked Rahul Gandhi not to take names of persons who were either not members of that house or were not present there.
On a couple of occasions, parliamentary rules of the procedures had to be read out when Rahul Gandhi started making “wild allegations” against Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and PM Modi about the Rafale deal with France.
He said, “Everybody understands the relationship the PM has with certain business people. Everybody understands and everybody can see the amount of money that goes into the marketing of the PM. Everybody understands who it comes from. One of those people was given the Rafale contract and he benefitted 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of crores… “
