The BJP has also upped the ante in its criticism of the Congress, and has succeeded in catching it on the wrong foot.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan surprised the Opposition on Wednesday, the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, when she not only accepted their notices for a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government but also announced that the debate and voting on the motion would be held as early as Friday.
During
the Budget session in March, Mahajan had pointed to disruptions in
the House for not taking up a discussion on the notices of
no-confidence motion, drawing criticism from opposition parties.
According
to sources, this change in the government’s strategy of being
amenable to facing a no-confidence motion came at the suggestion of
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah.
If
the Opposition believes it will use the debate to embarrass the
government on a host of issues, the BJP brass thinks the Opposition
has offered it a gilded opportunity, that too close to elections to
three key north Indian states, and the Lok Sabha polls not far away.
The
PM has already started addressing public rallies across the country.
The BJP
has also upped the ante in its criticism of the Congress, and has
succeeded in catching it on the wrong foot by describing it a party
for Muslims. Modi’s reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha on Friday,
with his speech set to be telecast live, is expected to mark the
launch of his campaign for the 2019 polls.
Unless
the PM does the unthinkable by quitting and recommending the
dissolution of the House, which will also pave the way for much
speculated early Lok Sabha elections, there is little danger to his
government. In the Lok Sabha, the BJP continues to command a majority
of its own in the House.
Therefore,
the no-confidence motion will be less about number-crunching and more
about optics. The Opposition will try to embarrass the government on
a host of issues – agrarian distress, atrocities on dalits, special
status for Andhra Pradesh, increase in deposits of Indians in Swiss
banks, lynching incidents, foreign policy, and economy.
The
BJP and government strategists are confident the debate and
subsequent voting on the motion will expose Opposition disunity,
while the PM will punch holes in the Opposition’s efforts at
building a narrative against the government on issues such as farm
distress. On Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
increased the minimum price sugar mills pay to sugarcane growers by
Rs 20 a quintal.
The
news of the Speaker accepting the notices for a no-confidence motion
rattled the market on Wednesday morning. The benchmark BSE Sensex
closed nearly 150 points in the red after hitting a new all-time high
in the morning.
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