Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA Government sailed through its first floor test in Lok Sabha by defeating the No-Confidence Motion moved by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Friday.
The government had a comfortable majority of 325 votes in its favour, who voted against the No Confidence Motion compared to 126 votes by the Opposition parties out of total 451 Members of Parliament present in Lok Sabha.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena abstained from voting.
The NDA victory came after an 11-hour debate, followed by a 90 minute reply by the Prime Minister, during which he listed out the achievements of his government and underlined the failures of the Congress and its allies during their previous terms.
This was also the first major unity strength of the Opposition parties that are planning to come together for 'Grand Alliance' hoping to fight Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 general elections.
Before the voting No Confidence Motion, Modi asked the Opposition to bring a similar motion again in 2024, clearly indicating that the BJP will be back in power again in 2019.
The motion moved by TDP saw the MPs accusing the NDA government of neglecting Andhra Pradesh and not giving it Special Status. However, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the other beneficiary of the bifurcation of Andhra, supported NDA.
Replying to charges made by the Opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a hard hitting speech attacked the Opposition parties for draining out the resources of the country for their own benefits. While listing out the development work by his government, Prime Minister presented the report card of his government. He also took a dig at the Opposition unity building up by alerting the possible allies to be wary of Congress reputation of cheating its partners and bringing down the governments after using them.
Modi also criticised TDP for being opportunist and walking out alliance in view of elections. He said the NDA government was committed for the benefit of Andhra Pradesh people and assured that the Centre will work for the betterment of the state.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha saw a stormy time when Congress President Rahul Gandhi attacked the government accusing it on various counts. Rahul directly attacked Prime Minister over the Rafale deal, and demonitisation and went on to critise the government's failure in providing employment and containing increase in petrol prices.
Rahul's speech saw Treasury benches on feet, especially at the time when he spoke on the Rafale deal. Rahul accused Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of lying to the nation about the secrecy pact with the Government of France.
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