The BJP is not taking any chances with Friday’s no-confidence motion. Party chief Amit Shah on Thursday attempted to smoothen the frayed tempers of allies such as the Shiv Sena, and the BJP’s floor managers were ensuring that disgruntled MPs cast their vote. The Shiv Sena has issued a whip directing its MPs to vote against the motion.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), with 20 MPs, is expected to abstain, and the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha, the AIADMK (37 MPs), has openly expressed its opposition to the no-trust motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS), which has 11 MPs, is also expected to vote with the government.
The BJP, has 274 MPs, and with the exception of Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad, who is believed to be out of town, the rest are expected to follow the party whip. Party MP from Patna Sahib Shatrughan Sinha, who has been overly critical of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of late, has announced that he will back the government.
With other alliance partners, including Shiv Sena (18), the Shiromani Akali Dal (4), the Janata Dal United (2), Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (3), Lok Janshakti Party (6), Sikkim Democratic Front (1), Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (1), National People’s Party (1) voting with the BJP, the party expects to easily defeat the no-trust motion.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar came back with a sharp response to former Congress President Sonia Gandhi who had said: “Who says we do not have the numbers.”
“Sonia ji ’s math is weak. She cannot calculate properly. Modi government is strong in and outside Parliament. We will defeat the no-trust motion and get support from north and south, east and west of India. It is not NDA but NDA+ that will score,” said Ananth Kumar.
The BJP has been allocated about three-a-half hours to speak and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to speak just before the motion is voted on.