Sena flip-flop as BJP confident of victory

NEW DELHI:The Lok Sabha will on Friday witness the second no-confidence motion against the government in 15 years, with the ruling BJP brimming with confidence in numbers — the late-night flip-flop by ally Shiv Sena notwithstanding — and the Congress reasoning that it is not about numbers alone.

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 19

The Lok Sabha will on Friday witness the second no-confidence motion against the government in 15 years, with the ruling BJP brimming with confidence in numbers — the late-night flip-flop by ally Shiv Sena notwithstanding — and the Congress reasoning that it is not about numbers alone.

“It is about issues too. We are not concerned about unseating this government for a day or two. We are preparing ground to depose them for good. Tomorrow will be the launch of our campaign to eventually send the BJP packing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” Congress leader Anand Sharma said.

The reaction came after a battery of ruling party seniors, including Ram Madhav and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, said the mathematics favoured the BJP in the Lok Sabha and that they would defeat the motion.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has asked his party MPs to remain in Delhi, but the final decision as to if the party will support the Modi government against the Opposition’s no-confidence motion will be taken on Friday, a Sena functionary said on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, a whip issued by the Sena had asked all MPs to support the NDA government.

The Lok Sabha, meanwhile, saw two resignations on Thursday (BJD’s Bayjanta Panda and Kerala Congress’ Jose Mani) creating 11 vacancies in a House of 545 MPs, including the Speaker. The effective strength of the House (minus vacancies) is 534. The half-way mark is 267 and 268 is the magic number the government needs to demolish the no-confidence motion against it. “The government has the strength to defeat the motion by Indian mathematics. I don’t know which country's mathematics she (Sonia Gandhi) is using to calculate numbers,” Ram Madhav said, even as Ananth Kumar claimed “Sonia Gandhi's maths is weak… We will get support from new quarters, from south, east and all directions”. UPA chief Sonia Gandhi had on Wednesday asked, “Who said we don’t have the numbers?”

The NDA block with 13 parties has 315 MPs, if the Speaker is counted, and 314 without her. BJP allies, except Sena, have sounded support to the party that issued a whip to MPs to be present in the LS on Friday.

While the UPA led by Congress has 64 MPs, it is expecting support of TMC (34 MPs), SP (seven MPs), Aam Aadmi Party (four MPs), Left (11 MPs), AIUDF (three MPs), JDS, AIMIM, RLD and the NC (one MP each) plus more with who they said they were engaged.

The BJP, on its part, is also banking on other parties, including the AIADMK with 37 MPs. The BJD on Thursday issued a whip to MPs to be present in the LS, but said it would decide on its stand on Friday. The party has 16 MPs.

The TRS (11 MPs) may also go with the BJP for the simple anti-TDP calculations in Andhra. Four YSRCP MPs can also vote alongside the BJP, though it’s unclear yet.

With numbers in its pocket, the BJP hopes to use Friday’s vote to kickstart its campaign for the 2019 General Election.