Explained: What Is No-Confidence Motion And Why Is It Called The Weapon Of Opposition

There have been occasions in the history of Indian politics when governments have fallen. No confidence motion is used by the opposition to obstruct the government to prove its majority in the house.

On April 17, 1952, the first Lok Sabha began its term. Since then till today it has been used by the opposition over time.

BCCL

Recently, Congress and the CPI-M moved a no-confidence motion against the Jai Ram Thakur government in Himachal Pradesh, which however was defeated by a voice vote in the state Assembly.

The opposition targeted the ruling government over law and order, unemployment, price rise, and many other issues.

What is a No-confidence motion?

As the name suggests, when the opposition expresses its no-confidence against the government and thus the ruling government has to gain confidence in the house.

The ruling party need to prove its majority in the House to gain confidence. If it loses the majority, the government will fall immediately.

It is well known that the government can remain in power as long as it has the majority in the Lok Sabha.

Weapon of the opposition

The no-confidence motion is an important weapon of the opposition. Through this, it raises questions on the ruling government and throws light on their failures and discusses them in the House.

PTI

Along with this, this motion plays an important role in uniting the opposition. In fact, the opposition united and brought down the government many times in history.

Significantly, if it is passed in the House, then the entire cabinet including the Prime Minister will have to resign.

Can be brought in Lok Sabha only

According to Article 75 of the Constitution, the Cabinet is collectively accountable to the Lok Sabha.

Only the opposition can bring this proposal and can be introduced in Lok Sabha only. It cannot be moved to Rajya Sabha.

TOI

It can be brought by a party of the Parliament. If any party feels that it wants to move a no-confidence motion against the government for any reason, then it can as per the rules of the Lok Sabha. The ruling government has to prove the majority in order to remain in power.

The opposition moves a motion with the fear (or not) that the government will not be able to prove its majority in the house. Apart from this, sometimes they also use it to bring up some issues in the debate.

The complete procedure

A no-confidence motion is brought according to the rules of the Lok Sabha.

It can be brought in the Lok Sabha under rules 198(1) and 198(5) of the Lok Sabha. It can be placed in the House only after the Speaker is called upon it under 198(1)(a).

According to Lok Sabha Rules 198(1)(b), the information of bringing it to the House has to be given in writing to the Secretary-General by 10 AM.

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Under 198(2), it is mandatory for 50 members of the House to be in favour of this motion. If the number is less than this, then this proposal cannot be brought.

Rule 198(3) says that if the motion is passed after the Speaker has given assent. After this, the President fixes one or more days for discussion on it.

198(4), the Speaker shall make an announcement to be decided by voting, once the motion has been discussed. Apart from this, under 198(5) the Speaker can also fix the time limit for the speech of the members of the House.

The President of India can also ask the government to prove its majority. If the government is unable to prove its majority, the cabinet will have to resign and if they do not do so then the cabinet is dismissed.

When the motion toppled many governments

Initially, it was used as a symbolic protest. This was only to keep the government accountable at all times. Later its use increased significantly over time. Especially when coalition governments started to form.

The no-confidence motion first came against the government of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru had to face this in the year 1963. Leader of the Opposition Acharya JB Kriplani had brought this.

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Indira Gandhi has faced this proposal the most times till date. It was brought against her four times by KPM leader Jyotirmoy Basu. At the same time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee also brought it against her twice in the House.

Morarji Desai's government fell for the first time in the year 1978. He had faced it twice. For the first time, he somehow survived. While for the second time he feared that he will lose the majority and gave resignation even before the division of votes.

A year after this, in 1979, the government of Charan Singh also fell due to the motion and he had to resign.

Later, VP Singh's government also fell when BJP formed the National United Front.

In 1993, it was also brought against Narasimha Rao but he proved majority in the house. Later on, the United Front government fell in 1997 when Congress withdrew its support. As a result of which, H.D. Deve Gowda had to tender his resignation.

In 1998, IK Gujral also lost his majority in Parliament and the United Front government had to resign.

This motion was discussed the most when Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost his majority by just one vote in the year 1999. Earlier, his thirteen-day government had also fallen.

In 2009, Manmohan Singh also had to face a no-confidence motion. He had to do this in the context of the nuclear deal with America. However, he proved his majority in Parliament.

In 2018, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government defeated the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha by 199 votes.

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