No Confidence Motion

In simple terms, a motion of no-confidence or no confidence motion is a statement or vote which states that a person(s) in a position of responsibility (government, managerial, etc.) is no longer deemed fit to hold that position.This can be due to because they are inadequate in some respect, are failing to carry out obligations, or are making decisions that other members feel not safe for the organization.

In parliamentary motion, it means that the head of the state do not have the the majority. This happens when the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers have lost the support of the lower house. When a no confidence motion is passed in the assembly,  the president dissolves the Council of Ministers. The president then seeks to the form an alternative government . If alternative government formation is not possible then fresh elections are called. However, during the time from dissolution of CoM and installation of new government the CoM still hold the office as caretaker government , because the president cant take a decision on his own he needs a council of ministers to advise him.

How no confidence motion works?

Motion of No-confidence can be moved only in Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha does not have power to entertain such motion. The entire process is  is mentioned under Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and conduct of Lok Sabha. The member moving such motion is generally a member of opposition. The motion need support of at least 50 members to be admitted. Once admitted, it has to be passed within 10 days in the house. The motion has to be passed by simple majority. If passed, the Union Council of Ministers has to resign and government at centre falls. There is no impact on health of the government if such motion is not passed.

Some interesting facts about no confidence motion in India-

• The first no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha was moved in 1963 by Acharya K B Kripalani against the Jawaharlal Nehru government immediately after the India-China war.  In 1964, another one was initiated against Lal Bahadur Shastri but both failed.
• Prime minister Indira Gandhi faced the no confidence motion 15 times in her political career, the highest against any prime minister till date.
• P V Narasimha Rao faced three no-confidence motions during his tenure from 1991 to 1996. Rao overcame the first motion by a margin of 46 votes while cruising through the second one. The third one, which Rao got through by 15 votes, became controversial because the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was alleged to have been bribed to get the votes.
• In April 1999, the Vajpayee government lost the no-confidence motion by a single vote. The Bahujan Samaj Party switched over to vote against the NDA a the eleventh hour and Giridhar Gomango, despite being chief minister of Odisha, turned up in Lok Sabha and voted against the government, as he had not resigned from his House membership.
• Former prime minister Manmohan Singh's government never faced a no-confidence motion during its office years.
• In July 2018, a motion of no-confidence has been granted against Narendra Modi led NDA government. This is first such motion in last 15 years.

The recently verdict of no confidence motion went in the favor of Modi government who proved their majority in the assembly. The ruling NDA party gets a vote of 325 MP while mere 126 MP voted in the favor of motion. The motion have finally been defeated. The BJP government was already having a majority of 273 MPs of its own and was never in a problem of proving majority. The Shivsena  party, who is a supporter of BJP boycotted the motion. But still, BJP was able to prove its majority without any difficulty. This result just proves that the Modi camp still hold the aces.