Rahul's famous hug: What happened when Modi govt faced a no-trust vote in 2018

The BJP government will be facing a no-confidence motion this week, four years after fending off one as the opposition tries to pin Prime Minister Narendra Modi down over the ethnic unrest in Manipur. The NDA has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha, so the BJP government is not in danger as a result. However, the opposition has claimed that the goal was to force PM Modi to address the Manipur issue in parliament, which has resulted in over 125 deaths, thousands of displaced people, and new accounts of unspeakable horrors every day. Since the start of the monsoon session on 20 July, both houses of parliament have been impassed due to the clashes in the northeastern state and the government’s failure to put an end to it despite three months of violence. As the saffron party prepares for the latest no-confidence motions, let’s delve into the 2018 parliament debate which had caused a massive social media frenzy. No-confidence motion in 2018 A no-confidence motion was filed against the Modi administration in 2018 by the former NDA ally, TDP after the party claimed that the Centre had failed to provide Andhra Pradesh with sufficient funding. The motion was introduced after the TDP and BJP’s partnership was broken. The proposal had the support of a number of opposition parties, however, Shiv Sena stayed away from the proceedings and Naveen Patnaik’s BJD had left the House. The opposition, however, used the discussion as a platform to criticise the administration on matters including farm distress, economic expansion, and an increase in mob lynchings. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government defeated the motion in the Lok Sabha after a contentious 12-debate. 126 parliamentarians voted in favour of the measure, but 325 MPs were against it. Banter between PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi The banter between then-Congress president Rahul Gandhi and PM Modi, which also included the prime minister’s over 90-minute address, was the highlight of the 12-hour debate. At the conclusion of his address during the discussion, Rahul Gandhi approached the Prime Minister and gave him a hug. It was enhanced by his post-return wink to other Congress leaders, according to NDTV. This caused a massive social media frenzy.

Rahul_Gandhi_Hugs_PM_Narendra_Modi_in_Parliament_. Only PM modi can do this ✨KDY pic.twitter.com/vqUWmUCZYL

— KaviDilipYash Prasad (@kavidilipyash) February 11, 2023

Later during his speech, PM Modi called on all parties to disregard the move and accused the Congress of operating with the mindset of “Modi hatao” (remove Modi), calling the no-trust vote against his government a result of the Opposition’s “arrogance.” He said some people were engaging in “negative politics,” and also poked fun at Rahul Gandhi, by saying, “I got to know the difference between ‘gale milna’ and ‘gale padhna’ in this House.” He added that the then-Congress president seemed hurried to take his seat in the Lok Sabha and asked him to get up for a hug after crossing to his seat. “What’s the hurry to come here? Only people of India can make somebody sit here,” he taunted. Further referring to Gandhi’s wink, the Prime Minister said, “Everyone can see the games that eyes are playing.” No-confidence motion in 2023 The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of Telangana and the Congress party have each submitted a separate no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the Narendra Modi-led administration. This move coincides with the current parliamentary deadlock on the ethnic violence in Manipur, which has resulted in over 125 deaths, thousands of displaced people, and additional accounts of horrible horrors on a daily basis, reported Times Of India. The issue has been a major factor in the ongoing impasse in both houses of parliament since the monsoon session started, and the government’s failure to resolve it despite three months of bloodshed. Opposition parties claim that even if their no-confidence motion is likely to fall short on the quantitative test, they would prevail in the “battle of perception” by putting the administration on the defensive during the debate about Manipur. The opposition claims that this tactic would force the Prime Minister to address the important issue in parliament, despite the government’s insistence that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will speak during the discussion of the Manipur crisis. PM Modi’s “prediction” goes viral Many in the ruling BJP have referred to PM Modi’s remark in 2019’s parliament as his “prediction” on the most recent motions of no confidence. The Prime Minister is heard saying that the opposition should get ready for yet another no-trust vote in 2023 in a video from 7 February 2019 of a debate on the President’s speech during the Budget session. He was making reference to his government’s earlier defeat of a similar measure.

Opposition is bringing a No confidence motion against government which PM Modi had predicted 5 years ago! pic.twitter.com/PBCaUe3fqG

— DD News (@DDNewslive) July 26, 2023

“I want to offer my best wishes… prepare so much that you get a chance to bring a no-confidence again in 2023,” PM Modi said in Lok Sabha, drawing laughter and desk-thumping from ruling party MPs. “This is Samarpan Bhav (service) that from two (MPs) we are sitting here (in power). And the result of ahankar (arrogance) is that from 400, you have come down to 40. Look where you are today…” he said without directly pointing the grand-old party. History of no-confidence motion A government can only hold power in a parliamentary democracy if it has a majority in the directly elected House. This principle is embodied in our Constitution’s Article 75(3), which states that the Council of Ministers is jointly accountable to the Lok Sabha, according to Indian Express. No-confidence motions have been proposed numerous times in the past, but only three of them succeeded in ousting the ruling party. In August 1963, the first no-confidence vote against the post-independence government of Jawaharlal Nehru was initiated. Acharya JB Kripalani filed the motion. Only 62 votes were cast in favour of the proposal, while 347 voted against it. [caption id=“attachment_12918592” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption] About a year later, in 1964, Independent MP NC Chatterjee proposed the second no-trust motion against Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The Lok Sabha considered 15 motions of no confidence from 1964 to 1975, three of which were directed at Shastri and twelve at Indira Gandhi. In 1979, YB Chavan introduced a no-confidence vote against PM Morarji Desai’s administration, which ultimately resulted in the downfall of the government. In the years 1981 and 1982, Indira Gandhi had to deal with three additional no-trust motions. In 1987, Rajiv Gandhi faced one and won by a simple voice vote thanks to his sizable majority in the Lok Sabha. The no-confidence motion against the VP Singh-led government in 1990 was defeated in the Lok Sabha by a vote of 142 to 346. During his time in the tenth Lok Sabha, PV Narasimha Rao came very near to losing twice. Jaswant Singh brought the first petition against him, which he won by a margin of 46 votes. Atal Bihari Vajpayee moved the second one, and controversy dogged Rao’s victory over the third one by a margin of 14 votes. According to ABP, HD Deve Gowda suffered the same fate as VP Singh in 1997. Gowda, who had only been in office for 10 months, was only able to secure 158 votes in his favour. When it comes to no-confidence motion, Atal Bihari Vajpayee has a 50/50 record. The first one was implemented in April 1999 following the withdrawal of support from the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK. After the BSP abstained, he lost the motion by one vote. In the ensuing election, however, the BJP took back control. In 2003, the opposition, led by the Congress, once more launched a no-trust resolution against the Vajpayee administration. This time, the saffron party prevailed with a 312-to-186 vote margin of victory. With inputs from agencies