JOIN USMore no-trust motions before Lok Sabha
The Parliament will reconvene after a three-day break on Tuesday with the Opposition deciding to vigorously press for multiple no-confidence motions, including the new motions submitted by CPM and RSP, while TRS decided to join the bandwagon.
TRS has so far not joined the Opposition on the no-trust motion and has been protesting in the Lok Sabha raising their demand for reservation for Muslims, which has aroused murmurs in the Opposition ranks that they were playing to BJP tunes to avoid a discussion on the motion.
The vociferous protests by the TRS and the AIADMK, which is demanding the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board, were the reasons cited by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for not being able to take up the motions submitted by the TDP and YSR Congress.
The Speaker has to do a head count to find out whether the motion has the support of the necessary 50 MPs before moving ahead with the procedure to fix a date for discussion.
On Monday, TRS MP and K Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter K Kavita said, "the government is evading the no-confidence motion. We will now sit silently in Parliament and if there is a discussion, we will take part in the debate to highlight our issues."
However, the AIADMK threw a spanner in the Opposition's plans when it said it will continue its protest, which could result in a repeat of what has been happening in the past few days. The Parliament has not functioned since it began.
While Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge submitted his notice on Friday, CPM's P Karunakaran and Mohd Salim, as well as RSP's lone member N K Premachandran, submitted their notices on Monday, asking the Speaker to consider it on Tuesday when the House assembles.
Asked why separate notices are being given, Premachandran, while speaking to DH, said, "we have to send the message that all parties are against the government. That will have a different impact. Also, we have our own issues to raise against the government through the no-confidence motion."
Sources in the Opposition camp said there were informal discussions among parties and they had agreed to give separate notices.
"TDP and YSR Congress have their own issue of the special category status for Andhra Pradesh. But that is not the only issue. There were discussions between Trinamool Congress, CPI, Samajwadi Party and RJD, too," a senior leader said.
The YSR Congress also tweaked its strategy on its MPs' resignation, saying they will quit on the day Parliament is adjourned sine die and not on April 6 as declared earlier.
"The decision was taken in wake of the rapidly changing political developments and the possibility of Parliament session being shortened," a statement said.