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| Motions in Parliament |
What is no-confidence motion?
A no-confidence motion is an attempt, usually by an Opposition party, to get the government of the day to prove its majority on the floor of the House. The motion can only be moved by a member in the Lok Sabha, and, once moved, offers MPs an opportunity to discuss the government’s performance, before voting on whether the ruling party has the “confidence” of the House.
No confidence motions only occur in Parliamentary democracies. If the Opposition feels that the government isn’t doing its job (and more importantly, if the Opposition believes it’ll win), it can make a Motion of No Confidence. MPs vote on the motion and if it passes, a General Election is triggered. This is rare in the UK as most governments can command a majority, so in most cases, the Opposition has to persuade backbench MPs to vote against their own government. Motions of no confidence make minority governments fragile, as the government can’t be confident that it has sufficient MPs to reject the motion.
Few Points Related to No-confidence Motion:
- A no-confidence motion can be moved by a Lok Sabha member if he/she thinks that the incumbent government has lost the support of the majority.
- Such a motion cannot be moved in the Rajya Sabha.
- The member is not obligated to furnish a reason for moving the motion.
- It must be supported by at least 50 MPs to be accepted for discussion by the House Speaker.
- The government must prove majority during the floor test to continue in power, failing which it has to resign.
History of No-confidence Motion:
Neither a confidence motion nor a No-confidence motion is mentioned in the Constitution of India. But Article 75 spells it out that “the council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People”. this implies that the majority of Lok Sabha members must support the prime minister and his cabinet. It is like a tool to know the strength of the current government. As motion gets passed, Govt. has to resign. So it's really an important weapon for opposition.
When and How it has been used:
- So far, 26 no-confidence motions have been moved in Lok Sabha since Independence.
- Acharya Kripalani moved the first no-confidence motion in August 1963, immediately after the India–China war.
- Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister faced the most number of no-confidence motions – 15.
- Lal Bahadur Shastri and Narasimha Rao both faced it thrice, Morarji Desai twice and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee faced once each.
- All the no-confidence motions have been defeated except when Prime Minister Morarji Desai resigned during the discussions in July 1979.
- Today’s no-confidence motion, the 27th in Parliamentary history, is the first to be admitted in 15 years.
- The last was in 2003 when the Congress party moved a no-confidence motion against prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
There have been seven times when prime ministers were able to prove their majority in a trust vote. These are VP Singh in 1989, Chandra Shekhar in 1990, PV Narasimha Rao in 1993, HD Deve Gowda in 1996, IK Gujral in 1997, AB Vajpayee in 1998 and Manmohan Singh in 2008.
Of the above, three prime ministers had to resign after they lost the subsequent trust votes – VP Singh in 1990, Deve Gowda in 1997, and Atal Behari Vajpayee in 1999 (when he lost by the narrowest margin possible of one vote).
Chandra Shekhar and IK Gujral resigned soon after winning their trust votes. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh went on to complete their terms.
How is it different then Confidence Motion?
A no-confidence motion is slightly different from a motion of confidence, or trust vote, which is moved by the government, as an ordinary motion under Rule 184. A government can prove its majority by moving a confidence motion as a counter to the opposition parties.Also Read
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