It is rather disingenuous of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi to ask “who says we don’t have the numbers?” On its own, the BJP has 274 MPs in the 535-member Lok Sabha, six more than the number required to defeat the motion. Along with other allies, Shiv Sena (18), Shiromani Akali Dal (4), Lok Janshakti Party (6), Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (3), JD(U) (2), Sikkim Democratic Front (1), Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (1), National People’s Party (1), the ruling National Democratic Alliance has about 310 MPs in the Lok Sabha and the government is expected to easily sail through the first no-confidence motion it faces in its four-year tenure. It further helps the BJP that the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal are reportedly planning to boycott the proceedings.

Both the principal protagonists need to answer uncomfortable questions. The Congress needs to justify why it has lent its weight to a no-confidence motion that is strategically flawed, politically ill-timed and, given that general elections are due in a matter of months, one which will not materially alter the situation in any way. The BJP needs to explain why it earlier stonewalled the no-trust motion and allowed the entire Budget Session to be disrupted. The passage of the Finance Bill without any debate and the cavalier disregard shown to any suggestions by members of the Upper House is a disturbing trend for which the blame must lie with the ruling party, which is primarily responsible for the smooth functioning of Parliament. The BJP’s intransigence in the last session is only matched by the alacrity with which it has now ceded ground on the no-confidence motion. That the arithmetic favoured the ruling party was never in any doubt, so the only plausible reason for the allowance this time is political. With elections around the corner and senior ministers indicating clubbing at least 13 Assembly polls with the Lok Sabha, it is the perfect setting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to emerge victorious in a numbers game and stun the nation once more with his rousing oratory. It creates ideal optics for the BJP to appear invincible in the run-up to the elections.

That brings the focus back to the Congress. In the TDP’s case, the move at least serves the political purpose of distancing it from its erstwhile ally. But for the Congress, losing out once more to the BJP would have only made sense if indeed there was a pressing urgency to pushing the no-trust vote. The miscellaneous issues being cited for invoking this extraordinary provision six months ahead of the general elections only serve to underline the Congress’s political vulnerability. What is worse is that the principal opposition party seems be to lacking in the maturity, tact and mindfulness required to guard the basic Constitutional rights of the people it claims to represent.

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