No-confidence motion: Lok Sabha disrupted, Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day

The logjam in Parliament continued on Monday as the TDP and YSR Congress raised the pitch for taking up their no-confidence notices against the Modi government amid a ruckus in the Lok Sabha leading to disruption of the House.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for an hour till noon while the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day minutes after the Houses convened after the weekend.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled, TDP and AIADMK MPs protested in the Lower House raising slogans and displaying placards.

Amid the din, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 12 p.m.

As such the no-trust motion could not be taken up in the Lok Sabha even as the government said it was ready to face it and had the numbers to defeat it.

"We are ready to face the no-confidence motion as we have support in the House. We are confident," Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters before the House met.

Telugu Desam Party MP Thota Narsimham said the party members would insist on moving the motion in the House first. He said the TDP has "talked to opposition parties, including the Trinamool, Congress and Samajwadi Party".

Another TDP MP R.M. Naidu said they were trying to gather as much support as possible from all the opposition parties in Parliament knowing fully that the motion would fall because the government has enough numbers to defeat it.

He said the TDP was looking for a debate in the House on how the government is functioning.

"It's the responsibility of all the parties support us. We are trying to gather as much support as possible so a debate happens. We are not trying to make the government fall," Naidu said.

At present, the Lok Sabha has 539 members. The BJP has 274 -- more than the half-way mark of 270. The BJP also has the support of several allies like the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal.

But the Shiv Sena has said it has not decided on its course of action on the no-confidence motion.

Its MP Sanjay Raut said the party would wait and watch. "We will also have to see if the Speaker allows the no-confidence motion or rejects it. The TDP has its own state issues and we welcome them. As of now we have not decided yet on no confidence motion, (party chief) Uddhav ji will take a call."

Meanwhile, TDP MPs protested in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament, demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh. They were joined by Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day within minutes of its meeting amid protests by TDP MPs.

The first two weeks of the last phase of the Budget session have been virtually washed out to opposition protests. The government has, however, managed to get some key bills and the budget passed amid the din through a voice vote without a debate.

--IANS

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