2008 Lok Sabha Vote of Confidence

All you want to know about 2008 Lok Sabha Vote of Confidence

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

The United Progressive Alliance, the governing alliance in India elected in 2004, faced its first confidence vote in the Lok Sabha on 22 July 2008 after the CPI(M)-led Left Front withdrew support over India approaching the IAEA for the Indo-US nuclear deal. The vote was so crucial that the UPA and the opposition parties summoned MPs from their sick beds and even from prison cells to take part in the vote, which was eventually won by the Government. [1][2]

Contents

Voting

In the 543 member Lok Sabha, the UPA needed 272 votes for the government to enjoy a simple majority.[3] The UPA won the confidence vote with 275 votes to the opposition's 256, (10 members abstained from the vote) to record a 19-vote victory.[4] [5] [6] [7]

Abstensions

 The factual accuracy of this section is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(May 2008)

Ten members abstained from the voting despite some of them having received strict contrary instructions from their parties.[8]. Among the 10, 2 MPs followed their party decision of abstaining so as to not be seen as supporting the UPA or the BJP, Left led opposition. Those two were:

The other 8 members who abstained defied their party stand. These 8 were:

Cross voting

 The factual accuracy of this section is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(May 2008)

The 7 members of the UPA who cross-voted against the government were:

Conversely, there were four members of the opposition who cross-voted in favour of the government proposal. These 4 were

Allegations of bribery

Main article: Notes-for-Vote scandal

Three BJP MPs – Ashok Argal (Morena), Faggan Singh Kulaste (Mandla) and Mahavir Bhagora (Salumber) amidst discussion walked towards the Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and placed two brown and black leather bags on a table. They pulled out bundles of Rs. 1,000 (US$ 20.99) and alleged that Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh had tried to offer them bribe to vote in favor of the government.[11] The BJP MP Kulaste, alleged that Amar Singh and Congress leader Ahmed Patel, an aide to Sonia Gandhi tried to offer bribe of Rs. 9 crore (US$ 1.89 million) to remain absent from the confidence vote. Amar Singh denied the charges.[11] Speaker Somnath Chatterjee asked the police chief of New Delhi to investigate the bribery issue.[12]Indian news channel CNN IBN which carried out the sting operation by recording using hidden cameras agreed to share the material with Indian authorities.[13]

Expulsions

  • The Bhartiya Janata Party expelled all it's eight members who defied party guidelines by cross voting and abstentions during the vote of confidence.[14]
  • The Telugu Desam Party has reported that disciplinary action against two of its MPs, D K Adikeshavulu Naidu and M Jagannadham, would be taken as they voted in support of UPA government,[15] though there were reports of abstention by Adikeshavalu Naidu. [8]
  • The Biju Janata Dal expelled it's MP Harihara Swain for voting in favor of government.[16]
  • The Shiromani Akali Dal has asked for an explanation from its MP who abstained from voting.[16]

Trivia: Animal sacrifice

  • It was reported that the Samajwadi Party legislator Kishore Samrite sacrificed 319 animals - 302 goats, 17 buffaloes - in a 10-day long yagnya for appeasing the Goddess Kamakhya in order for UPA to win the trust vote. Samrite also offered another 'yagnya' at Ugratara temple in the city and sacrificed two buffalos there.[17] He spent about 17 lakh on the yagnya, and self-confessed to have done it before several times, in distress.

References

  1. ^ Second day of trust motion India Today Group Online
  2. ^ "Indian government survives vote", BBC (July 22, 2008). Retrieved on 22 July 2008. 
  3. ^ Lok Sabha Members Lok Sabha
  4. ^ "Indian Government Survives Confidence Vote", The New York Times (2007-07-23). 
  5. ^ Indian gov't wins trust vote in parliament Xinhua
  6. ^ 275 not out Kashmir Times
  7. ^ Post trust vote victory, India Govt. to move forward with reforms, nuclear deal International Business times
  8. ^ a b Abstentions and cross-voting... Hindustan Times
  9. ^ Agony and ecstasy for Amar, all in one day Hindustan Times
  10. ^ 21 MPs cross-voted during Parliament trust motion Economic Times
  11. ^ a b "SINGH IS KING: UPA WINS TRUST VOTE", CNN IBN (July 22, 2008). Retrieved on 22 July 2008. 
  12. ^ Indian PM celebrates vote win, says millions will benefit AFP
  13. ^ "CNN-IBN: ready to submit sting material to Speaker", The Hindu (July 23 2008). 
  14. ^ BJP expels all rebel MPs who voted for UPA CNN IBN
  15. ^ "TDP to take action against MPs who voted for UPA", Times of India (July 23, 2008). Retrieved on 23 July 2008. 
  16. ^ a b "BJD, SAD cross-voters face expulsion", Sify (July 23, 2008). Retrieved on 22 July 2008. 
  17. ^ "319 animals killed for UPA survival. Divinity?". Retrieved on 29 July 2008. 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Lok_Sabha_vote_of_confidence"

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