PM Modi faces no-trust vote: A look back at first-ever such motion in Indian history
The first no-trust vote in the history of Independent India occurred in 1963 under then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Here’s what the Opposition charged and how Nehru responded
Nehru, India’s first prime minister, had at the time held the reigns of office for sixteen straight years. But he was vulnerable.
The Opposition is set to move a no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.
The Lok Sabha will discuss the motion admitted by Speaker Om Birla in July from Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi after a decision from the Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A tomorrow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply to the motion on 10 August.
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But what happened the first time such a motion was moved in Parliament in the history of Independent India?
Let’s take a look back:
Background and context
The first such no-trust vote occurred in 1963 under then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Nehru, India’s first prime minister, had at the time held the reigns of office for sixteen straight years.
But Nehru was vulnerable.
Just a year ago, in 1962, India suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of its neighbour China.
The Congress, meanwhile, had also tasted its own electoral reversals.
As per India Today, this allowed Opposition leaders including Minoo Masani, Acharya JB Kripalani and Ram Manohar Lohia to gain entry into Parliament.
As per Times Now, it was Acharya JB Kripalani who filed the no-confidence motion against the Nehru regime in the third Lok Sabha.
Kripalani was a former Congress leader and at the time a Praja Socialist Party MP, according to Financial Express.
The date was 19 August, 1963.
According to Indian Express, then Speaker Hukam Singh received multiple no-confidence motions against the Nehru government including from Bhartiya Jan Sangh (BJS) members Umashankar Trivedi (Mandsaur) and Ramchandra Bade (Khargone).
Another motion was moved by CPI MPs Renu Chakravartty and SM Banerjee but failed to receive the adequate support needed.
Socialist Party MPs Ram Sewak Yadav (Barabanki) and Maniram Bagri (Hisar), Hindu Mahasabha MP Bishen Chandra Seth (Etah), and PSP MP Surendranath Dwivedi (Kendrapara) also moved no-confidence motions.
Opposition’s charges
According to India Today, Kripalani accused the Nehru regime of not being vigilant against China.
Kripalani claimed “military decisions were taken in the capital without consulting field officers in NEFA (North East Frontier Agency). There was no need to wait for negotiations with the Chinese and India should be prepared both physically and psychologically for driving the aggressor out”.
He also slammed the Panchsheel agreement between India and China as ‘nonsense’ and called for the breaking off of ties with Beijing, as per India Today.
Kriplani also slammed the Nehru government over corruption.
“A Persian proverb says that when a ruler of a country takes a pinch of salt without payment, his officers will loot the whole country. If any minister thinks that what he does in secret is not known to his staff, he is living in a fool’s paradise… The government has failed in its foreign policy; it has failed in its home policy. The country is in depression,” Kripalani said, as per Indian Express.
“Do not suppose that I stand here to represent only 73 members of this House. The voting strength with me is greater than the voting strength with the Congress. The Congress polled only 45.27 per cent votes in the last election; the Opposition had 54.76 per cent… It is not necessary that one party should have a preponderating strength in this House. Even if there are a few parties, they can unite, as we have united this time. Remember, so far as the government of the country is concerned, there can be no vacuum. ‘The King is dead. Long live the King’.”
Nehru responds
Nehru said he ‘welcomed’ this motion and debate.
As per India Today, Nehru replied, “A no-confidence motion aims at or should aim at removing the party in government and taking its place. It is clear in the present instance that there was no such expectation or hope. And so the debate, although it was interesting in many ways and, I think profitable too, was a little unreal. Personally, I have welcomed this motion and this debate. I have felt that it would be a good thing if we were to have periodical tests of this kind.”
Nehru in his reply also singled out Kripalani, Masani and Lohia.
“The three honourable members, the three newcomers, whose speeches I listened to with great interest and care, Acharya Kripalani, Shri MR Masani and Dr Lohia, perhaps, were a little excited still with their victories in the by-elections and seemed to think that they could make a frontal attack on this government and all who are part of it. Dr Lohia did me the honour of referring to me repeatedly. I do not wish to argue about myself; it is unbecoming for me; to do so, anyhow, would be wrong. But that did bring the debate down to a singularly low level of the marketplace,” Nehru added.
“What has brought them together in this curious array… these various members? It is obvious that what has brought them together is a negation, not a positive fact, not only a dislike of the government, of our government, but perhaps, if I may say so, it is more — I am sorry to say so — a personal matter against me, both as leader of the government and otherwise. I do not mean that everybody feels that way. Certainly, it is a negative matter that has brought them together,” Nehru said, as per Indian Express.
The motion was debated for 21 hours. The proceedings lasted four days.
But in the end, Nehru prevailed against the motion.
Modi’s remarks go viral
Modi’s 2019 remarks in the Lok Sabha, in which he mockingly told the Opposition to prepare hard to bring such a motion in 2023, went viral late last month.
“I want to send you my good wishes that you prepare so much that you get a chance to bring a no-confidence again in 2023,” he had said during his reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address — his last major speech in the House ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The BJP went on to notch up a bigger win in the 2019 polls, bagging 303 seats compared to 282 in the 2014 general elections.
The last time the Modi government faced a no-confidence motion was during its first term in 2018.
The motion was defeated comprehensively as the BJP-led NDA enjoyed a strong majority in Lok Sabha.
Even now, the NDA is exceedingly comfortably placed in the Lower House.
The Lok Sabha currently has a strength of 543 – in which five seats remain vacant.
The BJP-led NDA has more than 330 members and the Opposition alliance Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has over 140.
More than 60 members belong to parties not aligned with any of the two groups.
Thus, this time too, the motion is likely to be defeated with ease.
With inputs from agencies
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