PM's Reply To No-Trust Motion Today Amid Fierce Manipur Debate: 10 Points

1. The parliament witnessed a fierce debate last two days with the Opposition accusing the government of creating a great divide in Manipur. The government has defended its actions, focusing primarily on its welfare work.
2. Addressing the parliament yesterday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned why the Prime Minister has not visited Manipur yet. "The Prime Minister has not gone to Manipur because he doesn't consider it a part of India. You (BJP) have divided Manipur," he said amid loud protests from the treasury benches.
3. Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented a report card of the centre in terms of fighting Covid and the drugs menace. He also clarified the government's efforts in addressing the Manipur violence and alleged the no-confidence motion was brought to "mislead people".
4. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has confirmed that the Prime Minister will be present in the Lok Sabha on Thursday to reply to the no-confidence motion. The Opposition had been demanding the Prime Minister to speak on the Manipur issue in the parliament.
5. The centre earlier agreed to take up discussions related to Manipur violence on August 11, the last day of the Monsoon Session. But the date is not acceptable to the opposition, according to sources.
6. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which has 331 members in the Lok Sabha, is expected to sail through the no-trust vote. The BJP alone has 303 MPs in the Lower House where the majority mark is 272.
7. The opposition INDIA alliance has 144 MPs and its tally can go up to 152 if it can win the nine votes of the BRS. Besides, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP and Naveen Patnaik's BJD have 70 members together. BJD is not backing the no-trust motion.
8. The opposition has been demanding a discussion on Manipur, but the government had asserted the Prime Minister will not address the House on the issue. The opposition argue that the no-trust motion will help them win the "battle of perception" by cornering the government and compel the PM to address the issue in the parliament.
9. A no-confidence motion is a strategic parliamentary tool that the opposition can use to express its lack of confidence in the government. It compels the ruling party or alliance to prove its majority in the House. If it loses majority, the government falls immediately.
10. In the past, no-confidence motions have been moved 27 times in Lok Sabha, but all of them were either defeated or remained inconclusive. But governments have fallen at least thrice during vote of motion of confidence, which is moved by the ruling dispensation to prove its strength.