BJP Confident of Winning No-confidence Vote, Banks on PM Modi’s Intervention, Campaign-style Attack on Opposition

Even as the numbers favour the BJP with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) having members well above the half-way mark, the party members have been banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention at the end of the debate and his campaign-style attack to tackle the accusations of the opposition.

New Delhi, July 20: The government on Thursday expressed confidence in defeating the no-trust vote after the Lok Sabha speaker accepted the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition on the opening day of the Monsoon Session in Parliament. Even as the numbers favour the BJP with National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the party members have been banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s intervention to tackle the accusations of the opposition with his oratory skills.

Confident of giving a befitting reply to the opposition during the no-confidence vote, Union Minister Ananth Kumar said, “We are 100 per cent confident of defeating the opposition. The NDA is united and would vote against the motion.” Claiming to that the NDA is united and will vote against the no-confidence motion, which has been moved against the Modi government, the union minister said that the motion was the opposition’s “democratic right”

While the opposition plans to corner the Narendra Modi government on a range of issues including such as the economy, farmers’ suicide, rising incidents of mob lynching, increase in cases of atrocities against Dalits and woman etc, the government is likely to attack the opposition, especially Congress, on India becoming a “Hindu Pakistan” remark by leader Shashi Tharoor and Rahul Gandhi’s “Congress is a Muslims’ party” remark even though the party president already clarified that his party is for all “regardless of their religion or caste“.

The NDA has numbers. The BJP needs the support of 268 members in the 535-member Lok Sabha to pass through the no-confidence motion and it has 312 members.

Even though the numbers give you a picture of what most likely would happen in the seven-hour debate in Parliament, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi claimed that it might have the numbers to defeat the government. To which, Ananth Kumar said that she has “weak maths”. “Their calculation is wrong… The Modi government has majority both inside and outside Parliament,” he said. Even though the opposition doesn’t defeat the government in the no-confidence motion, it is set to attack it with a set of issues.

Sources have revealed that the opposition parties may also stage a walkout during the no-confidence motion.

Today is an important day in our Parliamentary democracy. I’m sure my fellow MP colleagues will rise to the occasion & ensure constructive, comprehensive&disruption free debate. We owe this to the people & the makers of our Constitution. India will be watching us closely: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/mwJaR5C3hZ

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

For the debate that will begin at 11 AM and would go on without a lunch break, seven hours have been set aside. Officials said as per calculations based on the strength of a party in the House, the BJP will get 3 hours 33 minutes, Congress, 38 minutes, AIADMK, 29 minutes, TMC, 27 minutes, BJD, 15, Shiv Sena, 14, TDP, 13 and TRS would get 9 minutes. While CPI(M) will get 7 minutes, SP will get 6 minutes, NCP, 6 minutes, and the LJSP, 5 minutes.