No-confidence motion

Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Legislature"; Class 12, Ch 4 "India's External Relations"

Meaning

A no-confidence motion is a motion moved only in the Lok Sabha under Rule 198. It needs the support of at least 50 members and gives no reasons. It says that the House has lost faith in the whole Council of Ministers (the Prime Minister and all ministers). If the House passes it, the whole government must resign [3].

It matters because it is the sharpest way for the Lok Sabha to hold the government to account. Even when it fails, it forces the government to face a full debate and answer for its work.

Explanation

How it works: the steps in order

• Step 1: Notice and wording. A member gives notice of a motion that reads: "That this House expresses its want of confidence in the Council of Ministers" [3].
• Step 2: Support of 50 members. When the motion is moved, at least 50 members must stand up to support it. Without them, it cannot go ahead [3].

• In 1952 the support needed was only 30 MPs. It was later raised to 50 [2].

• Step 3: Speaker fixes a date. The Speaker gives a day for the debate. This should normally be within 10 days of the motion being moved [3].

• Step 4: Debate. The government and the Opposition debate the whole record of the ministry. The Prime Minister usually replies.
• Step 5: Vote. The motion passes if a simple majority of members present and voting support it. It can also be decided by voice vote ("Ayes"/"Noes").
• Step 6: Result.
• If it passes: the whole Council of Ministers must resign under Art. 75(3).
• If it fails: the government continues in office.

Its main features

• Lok Sabha only. The Rajya Sabha cannot move it. Only the Lok Sabha can hold the government collectively responsible [4].
• No reasons needed. The motion does not have to give any charge or ground [3].
• Whole government only. It targets the entire Council of Ministers. It cannot target one minister alone.
• Collective responsibility (all ministers stand or fall together) is the idea behind it. A vote against the government is a vote against every minister.

Conditions and limits

• It works only against a weak majority. A government with a stable majority defeats it easily.
• Not in the Constitution by name. The Constitution only says the ministry is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha (Art. 75(3)). The no-confidence motion itself comes from the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha (Rule 198).
• Its value often lies in the debate. Even a motion that is sure to fail makes the government explain itself on the floor of the House [3].

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional base: Art. 75(3). The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. The no-confidence motion is how the Lok Sabha enforces this rule.
• Procedural base: Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure. It sets the 50-member support and the 10-day limit [3].
• Who uses it: the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Key instances

• 1963, the first motion: J.B. Kripalani moved it against Jawaharlal Nehru. The debate ran 21 hours over 4 days, and 40 MPs took part [2].
• 1964-1975: 15 motions were debated. Three were against Lal Bahadur Shastri and 12 against Indira Gandhi. Three more came against Indira Gandhi in 1981-82 [2].
• 1979, Morarji Desai: Y.B. Chavan moved a motion against him. Desai resigned after a 9-hour debate, before the vote [2].
• His is the only government to fall on a no-confidence motion.

• But the motion itself was never carried [2].

• 1987, Rajiv Gandhi: the motion was defeated by voice vote [2].

• 1993, P.V. Narasimha Rao: the government survived by 14 votes. This vote was later linked to the JMM bribery case [2].
• 2003, A.B. Vajpayee: the motion was defeated. The next motion came only in 2018, after a 15-year gap [2].
• 2018: the motion was defeated 126-325.
• 2023: moved on 26 July 2023. Debate began on 8 August 2023, which was 13 days after it was moved [3]. It failed by voice vote on 10 August 2023.
• Overall record: 28 no-confidence motions have been discussed up to and including 2023. None has ever been carried by vote [3].

Don't confuse with

• Censure motion: it must state reasons and can target one minister, a group or the whole ministry. If it passes, the government need not resign, but it must answer the charges. A no-confidence motion gives no reasons, targets only the whole ministry, and forces resignation if passed [3].
• Confidence motion: the government moves this to prove it still has a majority. The Opposition moves a no-confidence motion. If either goes against the government, it must resign (Art. 75(3)) [3].
• Trap: Vajpayee lost a confidence motion by one vote (269-270) in 1999. He did not lose a no-confidence motion.

• Manmohan Singh won a confidence vote in 2008 after the Left withdrew support over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

• Adjournment motion: it also needs 50 members and is Lok Sabha only. But it only sets aside the day's business to discuss a definite, urgent matter, with debate of at least 2½ hours. If it passes, it implies censure (formal blame) of the government, but the government does not have to resign [4].

• Amended Motion of Thanks in the Rajya Sabha: this happened 5 times (1980, 1989, 2001, 2015, 2016). It only shows the government lacks a majority in the Rajya Sabha. It does not bring the government down [4][5].

Prelims Hooks

• No-confidence motion = Rule 198, Lok Sabha only, 50 members' support, no reasons needed, normally taken up within 10 days [3].
• Support needed in 1952 was 30 MPs. It was later raised to 50 [2].
• First no-confidence motion: J.B. Kripalani vs Nehru, 1963 [2].
• No motion has ever been carried. Morarji Desai (1979) resigned before the vote on Y.B. Chavan's motion [2].
• "Which of the following can be moved only in the Lok Sabha?" Answer: the adjournment, censure and no-confidence motions [4]. The Rajya Sabha's nearest tool is Rule 267 (suspension of business).
• Art. 75(3): the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha only, not to Parliament as a whole.

Mains Points

• Weak as a removal tool, strong as a debate tool.
• No motion has ever been carried, because governments with stable majorities defeat them easily [3].

• Its real value is accountability through debate, as in 2018 and 2023. But the 2023 debate began 13 days after the motion was moved, beyond the normal 10-day limit. This raises questions about how strictly the Speaker applies the time limit [3].

• Coalition-era instability and reform.

• In 1989-1999, confidence votes brought down several governments (V.P. Singh, Deve Gowda, Vajpayee).

• Reform idea: a constructive vote of no-confidence, as in Germany. There, the House must name a new Prime Minister before it can remove the current one. This would keep the government accountable without leaving the country without a government.

• Collective responsibility in practice.

• The motion makes Art. 75(3) real: all ministers stand or fall together before the elected House.
• Desai's 1979 resignation shows that the threat of the motion can bring a government down even without a vote [2].

Related concepts

• Substantive motion
• Closure motion
• Closure by compartments
• Kangaroo closure
• Motion of thanks
• Adjournment motion
• Suspension of business motion
• Censure motion
• Confidence motion
• Resolution

Read more

• Motions and resolutions: from debate to confidence