Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had broken its alliance with the BJP lead NDA, and had submitted a no-trust motion in the Lok Sabha 2 days ago.
The ruckus in the Lok Sabha on the no-trust motion had caused the House to be adjourned for the second time.
A former Lok Sabha secretary has said that the din in the house should not be a hurdle in taking up the no-confidence notice, while two other maintained that taking up the issue amid disruptions has “practical difficulties”.
The 19th of March was the 11th consecutive day that the proceedings of the House were washed out due to this and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan could not take up the notices for no-confidence motion.
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Former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Acharya said a no-confidence motion is not admitted like other motions.
“It is a special motion and the Speaker merely informs the members of the notice. If the motion is in order (the documentation is as per rules), she can go ahead,” he told a news agency.
He said even if the House is not in order, the motion can be taken up if the notice is in order.
Acharya also said it is the duty of the Speaker to bring order in the House.
Once 50 members stand up in support of the motion, the Speaker only decides on the date and time when it will come up for debate, he said.
He also noted that to give a notice of no-confidence motion was the right of a Lok Sabha member and this “right cannot be curtailed.”
“The notice should be in order. I think some are interpreting it as the House should be in order,” he said.
But another former secretary general Bal Sekhar said din in the House creates “practical difficulties” in proceeding with the notice.
“When members are standing at their seats and in the Well, it is difficult to count the 50 members standing on their feet in support of the motion,” he said.
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He noted that since there is no voting and only a headcount, the other side can dispute the figures if there are members standing to protest but not for supporting the motion.
Yet another former secretary general, who refused to be named, said “the principal issue is that the House needs to be in order before any agenda, including notice of no-confidence motion, is taken up. How will the heads be counted,” he wondered.
The Lower House was adjourned for the day amid noisy protests by members from various parties, with Mahajan saying “since the House is not in order, I will not be able to bring it… I am sorry”.
The notices for the motion have been given by YSR Congress member Y V Subba Reddy and two members of the TDP — Thota Narasimham and Jayadev Galla. Both parties have been demanding special package for Andhra Pradesh, an issue on which the TDP quit the ruling NDA alliance last week.
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