Amid din, Speaker mentions notice for no-confidence motion

December 10, 2013 02:51 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 06:12 pm IST - New Delhi

New Delhi: Members of the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing winter session of Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday. PTI Photo/ TV Grab(PTI12_10_2013_000020B)

New Delhi: Members of the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing winter session of Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday. PTI Photo/ TV Grab(PTI12_10_2013_000020B)

For the second consecutive day on Tuesday, both Houses of Parliament could not conduct proceedings as Opposition parties continued their protests on a variety of issues, even as Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar mentioned about the notice for a “no-confidence motion” received by her.

Though she did not mention details, the Speaker was obviously referring to the notices given separately by four Seemandhra Congress MPs, two MPs from the Telugu Desam Party and three from the YSR Congress for moving a “no-confidence motion” against the UPA government for its decision to carve a separate Telangana State out of Andhra Pradesh. .

Amid din, she said: “… please go back to your seats. I have received notices of no-confidence motion. Unless the House is in order, I will not be in a position to bring the notices of motion before the House.”

As the Opposition members continued their protests on the death of children in a camp for Muzaffarnagar riot victims, the JPC report on 2G spectrum, the Saradha chit fund scam in West Bengal, the training of Sri Lankan naval personnel in India, price rise and the Telangana issue, Ms. Kumar adjourned the House till Wednesday. Earlier, question hour too could not be taken up due to the disruptions.

According to informed sources in the Lok Sabha, unlike other motions which the Speaker decides whether to admit or not, it is the House which will have to approve the admissibility of a no-confidence/trust motion with at least 50 members (less than one-tenth of the total strength of the House) standing up to support it. In the Upper House, pandemonium prevailed when the JPC report on 2G spectrum was tabled by Congress member Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu.

BJP Deputy Leader Ravishankar Prasad alleged that his dissent note had been altered. Quoting Article 105 of the Constitution, Mr. Prasad said he had the right to administer a note of dissent as a member of the panel. “I had given a strong dissent note ... the guilty have been left ... the report should not be tabled,” the BJP member said.

Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley wanted a ruling from the Chair whether the JPC Chairman could delete only unparliamentary words or “can alter the substance of the dissent note given by a member.”

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said Mr. Jaitley had raised a “valid point.” He, however, said he could not comment as he had not seen or read the report. The Chair ruled that the Terms of Reference contained in the motion of the JPC had no provision which permitted a discussion on its report adopted duly by the committee.

Besides the BJP members, those belonging to the Left, the DMK, the Trinamool Congress and the AIADMK raised the JPC report issue. Even as the protests continued, two Bills were introduced in the Rajya Sabha. Later the House was adjourned for the day after witnessing two adjournments.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.