No-Trust Motion: Wasted Opportunity
The India Commentary view
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2023-08-11 06:17:42
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The India Commentary view
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Three days were spent by our esteemed Members of Parliament that achieved nothing. If the opposition wanted to paint the NDA government as an uncaring administration that did, and was doing, nothing to bring the situation under control in Manipur or care for its people (which was the main reason for moving the no-trust motion), it failed miserably. Speaker after opposition speaker, including the showstopper, Rahul Gandhi, wasted the opportunity to pin the government on Manipur and instead indulged in ramble and histrionics (including a flying kiss by Gandhi). The opposition says it moved the no-trust motion to force Prime Minister Modi to break his 'maun vrat' on Manipur. Yet, when he was replying to the motion, they chose to walk out of the house. If the NDA government has failed the people of Manipur, the opposition did no better by wasting this opportunity. There was no debate - instead, each speaker from both sides chose to have his or her say.
If the proceedings of the three days are analyzed, the NDA seemed to have scored more points than the opposition. They managed to paint the I.N.D.I.A bloc of opposition parties as one full of contradictions and confusion. It seemed as if shadow boxing ahead of the 2024 polls was going on inside the parliament and that too at the expense of the taxpayers. While bringing a no-trust motion against the ruling dispensation is a valid democratic move available to the opposition, if it pans out in such an inconsequential manner, it is best that it is not used. Instead, the opposition could have used the time to debate on important legislations that were passed in Parliament in the monsoon session. The no-trust motion also showed that although the opposition has formed a bloc, it has in no way armed itself with the ammunition needed to take on the government in an effective or coordinated manner.
