No-confidence motion against Centre in Parliament: BJP instructs all LS members to be present on 19 and 20 July

The BJP issued a notice to all its Lok Sabha members on Wednesday and said they must be present in the House on Thursday and Friday as very important legislative discussions will take place. The letter, issued by BJP chief whip Anurag Thakur , requested that all its members be present and  support the "government's stand" . The no-confidence motion against the Centre will be taken up in Parliament on Friday. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Wednesday announced that the House would take up the debate (on the no-confidence motion) moved by many Opposition parties on issues like special status to Andhra Pradesh, cow vigilantism, lynching, atrocities against women and Dalits and alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act, on Friday, the 20 July. “The discussion will be held for the full day, followed by voting on it,” she said, adding that there would be no Question Hour on that day. A day ago,  a no-confidence motion was moved against the Narendra Modi government  in the Lok Sabha, with the Speaker admitting it and saying she would announce the date for a debate on it in “2-3 days”. [caption id=“attachment_4401519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The BJP believes that the government will get the support of as many as 314 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Earlier, Parliamentary affairs minister and BJP leader Ananth Kumar said, “Accepting or not accepting a vote of no-confidence is not in the realm of the government, it is prerogative of the Speaker. All NDA parties are going to vote unitedly against the no-confidence motion.” According to the estimate by the party’s floor managers, the government is likely to get support from small parties outside the NDA such as Anbumani Ramadoss-led PMK and Raju Shetty-led Swabhimani Paksha. Although Shetty and Ramadoss are no longer members of the NDA, but the government believes that they would support it during the vote on the motion. Sources in the party said the Narendra Modi-led government would get the support of 314 MPs in the lower house, which has an effective strength of 535 members. The list of the 314 MPs, however, does not include Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is also a BJP MP, they said. The majority mark is 268. In a House of 535 members, the ruling National Democratic Alliance has 313 members in the Lok Sabha, including 274 (including the Speaker) of BJP, 18 of Shiv Sena, six LJP and four SAD. The stated strength of the Opposition is 222, including 63 of the Congress-led UPA, 37 of AIADMK, 34 of TMC, 20 BJD, 16 TDP and 11 TRS. On Tuesday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had said the party was undecided on supporting the no-confidence motion that the TDP sought to move in Parliament. The comments from Raut, whose party shared testy ties with the BJP, came a day before the beginning of the Parliament’s Monsoon Session. The TDP members earlier moved a no-confidence motion during the Budget Session of Parliament. It was rejected by the Speaker on the grounds that the House was not in order as there were continuous protests in the Well by different political parties on various issues. With inputs from PTI