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Haryana Assembly Speaker accepted the no-confidence motion against the Haryana government
What is No Confidence Motion?
- The no-confidence motion means that one or more members of the parliament have lost confidence in the appointed government.
- The Motion of No-confidence is the “ultimate weapon’ available to the Opposition parties and such a motion, if adopted, results in the fall of the Government
- A no-confidence motion need not set out any grounds on which it is based. Even when grounds are mentioned in the notice and read out in the House, they do not form part of the no-confidence motion.
- It is moved against the entire Council of Ministers including the Prime Minister and not individual ministers or private members
History of No-Confidence Motion
- The First No-Confidence Motion was moved in the Lok Sabha by Acharya Kriplani against the the Congress government led by Shri Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1963.
- In the History of Indian Parliament, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the first ever to lose a no-confidence motion in India in 1999
Constitutional provision
- Article 75(3) of the Constitution provides for the collective ministerial responsibility to the Lok Sabha at the Union level.
- In the States, the principle of collective ministerial responsibility to the Legislative Assembly is embodied in article 164(2).
- For a Government to remain in power, it has to have the confidence of the elected House at all times.
- The Opposition parties can move a No-confidence Motion in the Council of Ministers to express the want of confidence of the House and ifj such motion is carried, the Cabinet has to resign.
- The Government of the day can prove its majority in the House by moving a Motion of Confidence and winning the confidence of the House
Procedure and Conduct
- According to rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of the Lok Sabha, a no-confidence motion is “a motion expressing want of confidence in the Council of Ministers.”
- The State Legislatures have framed their own rules for moving a Motion of No-confidence, more or less on the lines of the rule in the Lok Sabha.
- However, in respect of Motions of Confidence, there is no specific rule as such in the Lok Sabha and it is admitted and discussed under Rule 184 under the category of motions.
- In some of the State Legislative Assemblies, a Motion of Confidence is discussed under the same rule covering the Motion of No-confidence and in some other Legislative Assemblies, it is taken up under the category of motions.
How is it passed?
- A no-confidence motion needs a majority vote to pass the House.
- If individuals or parties abstain from voting, those numbers will be removed from the overall strength of the House and then the majority will be taken into account.
- With respect to Central government, a motion of no confidence can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Parliament) not in Rajya Sabha
- The member has to give a written notice of the motion before 10 am which will be read out by the Speaker in the House.
- A minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion and accordingly, the Speaker will announce the date for discussion for the motion.
- The allotted date has to be within 10 days from the day the motion is accepted.
Source: The Indian Express
