Prime Minister Narendra Modi will face a rare floor test in India’s parliament after the opposition moved a no-confidence motion over the deadly violence in Manipur, an attempt that won’t impact his government’s stability but could force him to make a formal statement before lawmakers.
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi will face a rare floor test in India’s parliament after the opposition moved a no-confidence motion over the deadly violence in Manipur, an attempt that won’t impact his government’s stability but could force him to make a formal statement before lawmakers.
The no-trust vote doesn’t pose a threat to the government because of its overwhelming majority in the lower house of parliament, but the debate will offer opportunities to the opposition to corner the government on sensitive issues such as women’s safety ahead of the upcoming crucial elections.
Speaker of the lower house of parliament Om Birla accepted the motion moved by an opposition lawmaker and said the date for the debate will be decided later.
The opposition’s move is aimed at forcing Modi to speak on the clashes that have killed more than 150 people and displaced 50,000 in the relatively remote Indian state since May. A horrific video — of an incident that took place in Manipur on May 4 — of two women being paraded naked has triggered public anger, forcing Modi to make his first public comment on the violence on July 20.
Modi’s government last faced a no-confidence motion in 2018 during his first term in office, when the opposition said he failed on economic, defense and foreign policies. He defeated the opposition-led motion.
The latest parliament session, which started on July 20, has been disrupted by angry opposition lawmakers demanding a statement from the prime minister.
The no-confidence vote against Modi comes at a time when the Congress party is looking to build on the momentum from its rare victory in the southern state of Karnataka in May. The latest surge in prices of tomato — a key ingredient in Indian cuisine — and other vegetables are adding pressure on Modi’s fight against inflation.
(Updates with speaker allowing no-confidence motion in third paragraph)
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