New Delhi: As a former NDA ally, the Telugu Desam Party is well aware that barring any major twist in the next couple of days, the no-confidence motion it moved in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday is unlikely to endanger the Narendra Modi government.
And yet, it is celebrating the acceptance of its motion by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan as a success.
Kesineni Srinivas, the TDP parliamentarian who moved the motion, told News18 that the trust vote is less about testing the strength of the BJP government and more about bringing to the fore its failures.
“Nationally, a debate and discussion on the Modi government’s failures and unkempt promises needed to take place. This no-confidence motion will do exactly that and the whole country will know the reality. That in itself is a success,” Srinivas said.
The party had also moved a motion in the previous session but it was blocked by the Speaker and 13 days were lost as opposition parties came together in protest. The reluctance to accept, the MP said, stemmed from the fact that it gives the opposition a platform to raise issues and talk about why it has lost trust in the government.
On Wednesday, the Speaker in a U-turn, asked to see if the motion had the support of the minimum 50 parliamentarians to go forward and the number was much higher. The trust vote will be held on Friday.
Coming in the last Parliament session before the Lok Sabha polls next year, it will help the opposition in at least two ways – by setting a common agenda as well as giving a more formal shape to the two sides as those parties on the fence will have to pick one.
TDP MP's raise slogans at Parliament House on the first day of the Monsoon Session in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI photo)
The reason cited by Srinivas in his motion was to protest against the government for not giving a special package to Andhra Pradesh, but he told News18 that it was not the true purpose. “Their (BJP’s) presence in Andhra is less than 1 per cent, so we are not really thinking from the angle of the state,” he said.
He claimed that many of BJP’s allies were also unhappy with the way the Narendra Modi-led government was functioning. “Everyone is dissatisfied, including their own members. But then, everyone has their reasons also for not coming forth with it. We are, however, still trying our best,” he said.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu had been holding talks with various parties and their respective chiefs, including those from the TMC, DMK, CPI(M), RJD, SP and the BSP. Naidu, who walked out of the alliance with BJP earlier this year, has already got his MPs to talk to leaders and put forward the case.
The Congress led by former party president Sonia Gandhi was seen pressing for the motion in the lower house in what could turn out to be a test of opposition unity ahead of the general elections next year. The current strength of the Lok Sabha is 535 and the BJP with 273 MPs has a clear majority in the House along with its allies.
Parliamentarians from seven opposition parties had on Tuesday written to Sumitra Mahajan expressing "deep anguish" over the manner in which the BJP allegedly circumvented constitutional norms during the last Parliamentary session.
The letter was signed by Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Salim, SP’s Dharmendra Yadav, NCP’s Tariq Anwar, RJD leader Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, CN Jayadevan of CPI, PK Kunhalikutty of Kerala-based IUML and AAP’s Bhagwant Mann.
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