The Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in Manipur on Monday won the vote of confidence moved by Chief Minister N Biren Singh ...
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in Manipur on Monday won the vote of confidence moved by Chief Minister N Biren Singh during the special one-day session of the Assembly, PTI reported.
However, proceedings were shrouded in controversy with allegations that the rules of parliamentary procedure were not followed during the vote – raising doubts about whether the government does truly enjoy the support of the state assembly.
Can a no-confidence motion be ignored?
For one, the speaker’s move to allow a government’s trust motion when there was already a no-confidence motion pending, filed by the Congress, ignores parliamentary procedure. On July 28, the Congress had submitted a motion of no confidence against the state government
As per the rules, a no-confidence motion takes precedence over any other business of the house. “A no-confidence motion can not be ignored,” explained PDT Acharya, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha. “Unlike other motions, a speaker has no say in admitting or not admitting a no-confidence motion. It is admitted by the House itself.”
What is a voice vote?
The second point of controversy involved the fact that the speaker had assessed that the government enjoyed the support of the house using the device of a voice vote rather than a division.
The Congress claims that it opposed the...
