New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government Friday defeated the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition Telegu Desam Party garnering 325 votes against the Opposition’s 126 at the end of a 12-hour debate that saw the Prime Minister tear into the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi.
Earlier, the Gandhi scion had stunned the House, particularly catching the treasury benches off guard, when after a scathing attack on the government, he walked over to the Prime Minister and hugged him.
When his turn came to speak late in the evening, Modi gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the attack. He also took on Sonia Gandhi and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu whose party had moved the no-confidence motion. With 451 members present in the House, the half-way mark was 226, which the government reached comfortably.
The Prime Minister showcased the achievements of the government—electrification of 18,000 villages, healthcare for all, LPG for the poor, initiatives for farmers and the flagship Goods and Services Tax.
Targeting Sonia Gandhi over her recent statement on numerical strength of the parties supporting the no-confidence motion, Modi said he was reminded of 1999, when she joined other parties to challenge the NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee.
“She stood outside Rashtrapati Bhavan and said, ‘we have 272 and more are joining us’. She destabilised Atal-Ji’s government and never formed one herself,” he said.
Taking on Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on Rafale, PM Modi said, “They raised Rafale issue and I was surprised… Due to one careless allegation in the House on Rafale, both nations had to release statements. Does this childish behavior befit anybody?”
Earlier,Rahul, leading the Congress offensive, alleged that the government’s deal with France for 36 Rafale fighter jets was massively overpriced and its claim that details could not be revealed was an “untruth”. He said when PM Modi went to France, “with some magic” powers, the price per plane increased to `1,600 crore, much more than `520 crore when the Congress was in power.
France put out a statement saying the two governments had sealed a security pact in 2008, which legally binds them to protect classified information.The BJP has moved a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi for his allegations against the PM.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi launched a blistering attack on the BJP mascot, accusing him of being a bhagidar’ (collaborator) in corruption and not a ‘chowkidar’ and saying people were victims of his ‘jumla’ strikes.
Gandhi’s no-holds barred attack at Modi on a range of issues including the controversial Rafale jet deal in his hour-long speech during a debate on the no-confidence motion against the government often sparked loud protests from the treasury benches, but it was his walk across the green-carpeted Well of House at the end to hug Modi that left almost everyone, not the least the prime minister, surprised.
BJD walks out in ‘interest of Odisha’
New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members walked out of Lok Sabha Friday just ahead of the discussion on the no-confidence motion against the NDA government “in the interest of Odisha,” saying it was dissatisfied with both the BJP and the Congress.
The party informed the Speaker of its decision on the issue at the eleventh hour. The decision was conveyed by BJD Parliamentary Party leader Bhartruhari Mahtab.
Mahtab told the House, “During the last 14 years, BJD has witnessed that the UPA government’s rule of 10 years and four years of NDA have done injustice to the people of Odisha. So, this discussion will not be in any way fruitful for the people of Odisha. Therefore, we are walking out. We are not participating in this discussion.” Soon after the announcement, all BJD MPs walked out of the lower House while the discussion on the Motion picked up momentum.
Later, the party said it was not happy with BJP, Congress and also had issues with the TDP on the Polavaram row, so they could not take sides with any of them.
Party spokesperson and BJD MP Kalikesh Singh Deo told the media, “The BJP and the Congress government never bothered to hear our demands, whether it was about according special status to the state, MSP, Polavaram or Mahanadi. The Congress government and the BJP government had both been working against Odisha. We have been raising the issues for the past 14 years and we saw no point in speaking for 15 minutes today.”
He also said, “As a sign of protest we walked out of the Lok Sabha when the no-confidence motion was taken up for discussion. We also have issues with TDP on Polavaram. So we cannot support TDP, BJP or even the Congress. We walked out in the interest of Odisha.”