Recently, the union government faced a no-confidence motion in the Monsoon session of the parliament.
• No-confidence motion: A legislative resolution introduced in the Lok Sabha that allows the Opposition to challenge the government's majority and ability to govern.
In a parliamentary democracy, a government can be in power only if it commands a majority in the directly elected House. Implying that if a No-confidence motion is passed, the Government of the day will have to resign.
The motion of No-Confidence can only be moved in LokSabha by any of its MPs.
• Constitutional articles/rules of business in Lok Sabha
o Article 75(3) of our Constitution embodies this rule by specifying that the Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
oRule198 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha provides a provision regarding the motion of No Confidence in Council of Ministers.
• Grounds: A Motion of No-confidence need not set out any grounds on which it is based.
o Even when grounds are mentioned in the notice and read out in the House, they do not form part of the No- confidence Motion.
Implications of the No-confidence motion
Political Vacuum: The passing of a No-confidence motion leads to the resignation of the Council of Ministers, which may lead to a political vacuum.
Administrative Challenge: The sudden removal of the political executive may lead to administrative confusion and policy uncertainty.
Parliamentary efficiency: Politically motivated No-confidence motions tend to affect the optimal time utilisation in Parliament. For instance, up till the current motion, a total of 456 hours have been spent discussing no-confidence motions in Parliament.
Burden on Exchequer: If no other party is able to prove the majority, then the citizens have to bear the expense of conducting general elections. Conclusion The first No-confidence motion was discussed in the Third Lok Sabha; since then a total of 26 No-confidence motions have been discussed in Parliament. 25 of them were negatived, and one motion led to the resignation of the Government in 1979. This record highlights the prevalence of opportunity to challenge the government and, at the same time, the stability of India’s democratic system.
Source: VisionIAS
(important for NID NIFT GK 2024)
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