The Delhi Assembly on Saturday initiated a discussion on the motion of confidence brought by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who alleged that the BJP tried to poach AAP MLAs to topple his government. Starting the discussion, the AAP's Kasturba Nagar MLA Madan Lal alleged that the BJP was persistently trying to "fail" and "paralyse" the Kejriwal government -- either by poaching party MLAs or interfering in its workings. Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, the lone opposition representative in the House following the suspension of BJP members for the session, was not present when the discussion began. This is the third motion of confidence of the Kejriwal government in the last three years. It comes amid the AAP's claims that the BJP wanted to break the party by offering money to its MLAs and toppling its government in Delhi. The previous confidence motions came in August 2022 and March 2023, amid AAP allegations that the BJP was carrying out "Operation Lotus" to poach its ..
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address at 2 pm in Rajya Sabha on Thursday during the ongoing Budget Session of the Parliament
PM Modi's reply is expected to begin around evening in the House
A united Opposition embarrassed the government on Wednesday when for a second successive year it successfully voted in the Rajya Sabha to amend the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. The vote came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the Opposition to help the government pass key Bills and also withdraw its amendments to the Motion of Thanks. The President's address, delivered on the first day of the Budget session every year, is approved by the Union Cabinet and details the government's achievements of the past year as well as policies and programmes for the year ahead. Wednesday's was only the fifth instance in the last 60 years of a government having been so snubbed. For, the Opposition customarily moves hundreds of amendments to the Motion of Thanks, which by convention are withdrawn after the discussion. However, in a strategy identical to last year's, opposition members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday withdrew around 300 amendments barring one. The amendment