Government "subverting" parliamentary traditions, say opposition MPs; seek immediate discussion on no-confidence motion

New Delhi [India]: With the Centre pushing its legislative business during the  Monsoon session of Parliament, Opposition parties on Friday alleged that the government is "subverting" the Parliamentary traditions by passing Bills even as the motion of no-confidence has been accepted in Lok Sabha.

Congress MP Manish Tewari cited former Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Satyendra Narayan Sinha as saying that "whenever there is a no-confidence motion, no substantive motion should be brought just to forestall the whole thing".

“On 26th July, 1966, Mr Satyendra Narayan Sinha, the then Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, made a significant statement in the Lok Sabha regarding No-Confidence Motion: 'I do concede that whenever there is a no-confidence motion, no substantive motion should he brought just to forestall the whole thing,'" Tewari said in tweet.

“These are the Parliamentary traditions that are being subverted by passing bill after bill when a no-confidence motion has been submitted,” he added.

The no-confidence motion was moved by Gaurav Gogoi, a Congress MP from Assam, on behalf of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A), against the government on Wednesday. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accepted the motion and said the day but said that the time of the debate will be decided later.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also demanded immediate discussion on the no-confidence motion.

"Under Rule 198, we have moved a no-confidence motion. According to this rule, the discussion should happen immediately," he said.

Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha objected to the tabling and passing of the Bills in the Houses, saying that “no bill is introduced in Parliament after a no-confidence motion is accepted by the Lok Sabha Speaker”.

"But we are seeing that several bills are introduced and passed in Parliament," he told ANI.
Chadha appealed to the Speaker that no legislative business should take place in Lok Sabha till the no-confidence motion is debated.

The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, as reported by Joint Committee, was passed in Lok Sabha on Thursday after the House resumed at 3 pm amid Opposition sloganeering over the Manipur issue.

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in the absence of Opposition party members who staged a walkout over Manipur violence issue, after the House resumed at 2 pm.

Ahead of the beginning of the seventh day of the Monsoon Session, several Opposition leaders gave adjournment notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, seeking a debate on the Manipur issue.