It remains uncertain if order will be restored in both houses of parliament today. (File)
New Delhi: The no-confidence motion against the government, pitched by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party was not taken up today as the Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon amid protests by lawmakers. Mr Naidu, the BJP's biggest ally in south who walked out of the NDA last week, and his arch-rival YSR Congress have demanded a no trust vote. While half-a-dozen opposition parties, including the Congress, announced support for the motion, the government has the numbers to remain safe. The opposition says the move is about sending a message. It would also help the two south parties consolidate their position back home ahead of next year's assembly elections.
Here is your 10-point guide to the no-trust vote:
- The Congress, Left Front, Samajwadi Party, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi, have said they will support the TDP motion. But it will not endanger the government, as the NDA strength is still 315 in the 543-member house, way above the half-way mark of 272.
- BJP ally Shiv Sena, known for acting as the proxy opposition, said it will abstain if the motion comes to vote. "We will neither support the Government nor the Opposition, we will abstain," said the party's Arvind Sawant. Three opposition parties - Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK, Telangana's TRS and Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal -- are neutral to the issue and expected to walk out.
- Although the opposition does not have the numbers, there are expectations that the debate will give them a chance to attack the government. At Parliament's Gandhi statue, where the TDP and the Congress started the day by holding a protest, Renuka Choudhury of the Congress said "it is not about numbers, but teaching the government a lesson".
- This morning, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the Lok Sabha as protesting members trooped to the well of the house.
- AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi has said the support to the no-confidence motion is about "sending a message to the government". On Friday, announcing CPM's support, Sitaram Yechury tweeted that the government's "all-round failure and evasion of parliamentary accountability needs to be highlighted".
- To get admitted for debate and voting, the motion needs the support of at least 50 lawmakers. The TDP and the YSR Congress do not have the numbers. The TDP has 16 members and the YSR Congress nine, and they would need the support of other parties for this.
- The TDP has been on the warpath since last month, saying they have received little in union budget presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley. The party has been unhappy since the demand for special category status for Andhra Pradesh - promised by the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh during the bifurcation of Telangana in 2014 -- was turned down by the government.
- In Andhra Pradesh, the TDP is facing extreme pressure from opposition parties like Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress -- which accused Mr Naidu of failing the state -- ahead of the assembly elections and the national election next year.
- When efforts to persuade the centre failed, the TDP pulled its two ministers out of the central government. On Friday, Mr Naidu announced said the party would bring a no-confidence separately against the centre.
- Mr Naidu's party claims the YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan are BJP stooges. The BJP is using them to divide the electorate and erode the TDP's support base in the state, the party has said.
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