History of anti-trust movement in India, when did it happen?

Today, opposition parties in Pakistan have submitted a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, which is yet to be voted on. In this context, it is important to examine the history of no-confidence motions against various Prime Ministers in India.

Many countries, including India, including Pakistan, have a British-style parliamentary system, also known as the Westminster system. In this, the term ‘collective responsibility’ within the parliament is very important. It is the responsibility of the Council of Ministers to maintain the confidence of the Parliament as well as the confidence of each other. If the Prime Minister loses the confidence of the House, he has to resign, resulting in the fall of the government.

The method of measuring collective responsibility is called ‘no-confidence’. The opposition party or parties move a no-confidence motion to the Speaker of Parliament. Article 75 of the Constitution of India deals with collective responsibility while the no-confidence procedure is enshrined in Parliament’s Rules of Procedures No. 198.

A member of the opposition can also move this motion provided it is signed by 50 members of the Lok Sabha. When the Speaker of the Lok Sabha passes the resolution, he is bound to convene the Lok Sabha within 14 days from the date of submission.

After convening the meeting, there is a debate in the Lok Sabha and then voting is done. This voting may be by word of mouth or by distribution. In voting, the government has to show that it has the support of 272 out of 543 members. The Lok Sabha has a total strength of 545 but only 543 elected members. Two members are nominated from the Anglo-Indian community.

Talking about the lower house of the Indian Parliament i.e. Lok Sabha, a total of 27 no-confidence motions have been tried since independence till date. The record for the highest number of no-confidence motions is held by Communist Party of India member Jyoti Basu, who moved the motion four times.

The first no-confidence motion was moved against the Jawaharlal Nehru government in 1963, which was unsuccessful. Only 62 votes were cast in his favour. The motion was moved by JP Kirpalani. Remember, this was the time when India had to face defeat in the war with China. On the other hand, JP Kirpalani was angry with Nehru for not being made the President of the Indian National Congress again.

The highest number of no-confidence motions were moved against Indira Gandhi’s government, which faced 15 no-confidence motions. Lal Bahadur Shastri and Narasimha Rao’s governments were denied three times each. Murarji Desai, who has also been honored with Pakistan’s highest civilian award Nishan Pakistan, has faced two no-confidence motions against the government. The governments of Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also faced it once.

When did the no-confidence motion succeed, against whom?

Until 1965, a single party was dominant in India, the Indian National Congress. In the beginning, since the opposition was like salt in the dough, it was considered impossible to topple the government through no-confidence. In the beginning, no-confidence meant bringing the government’s attention to the problem concerned.

The importance of antitrust in India began to rise in the 1970s, when new parties were emerging and establishing their influence on caste, linguistic or regional lines.

For the first time after the Emergency of 1975, a non-Congress government came into existence at the Centre. This government was of Janata Party. That Janata Party was not the Bharatiya Janata Party of today, but the name of the government coalition formed by different parties. It included Congress O, Savatantra Party, Socialist Party of India, Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Lok Dal.

With the change in the balance of politics in India after the Emergency, the importance of mistrust also increased. In 1978, Merarji Desai had to resign following a second no-confidence motion against his government. The first no-confidence motion was successfully defeated by the Desai government.

Chaudhry Charan Singh became the Prime Minister after Desai as his government also stood on the crutches of other parties. In 1979, there was a no-confidence motion against Charan Singh. Avoiding a possible defeat, Charan Singh asked the President of India to dissolve the Lok Sabha.

Similarly, in 1989, VP Singh had to go home after withdrawing support from the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 1997, the Congress withdrew support from the United Front government, led by HDV Gowda, and the government fell. After that, IK Gujral became the Prime Minister who lost power a few months later due to a no-confidence vote.

In 1999, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government fell just one vote short of establishing a majority and Vajpayee eventually had to resign.

The last no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha was moved by the Telugu Desam Party in 2018, but the Modi government defeated it with an overwhelming majority. Earlier in 2008, the Communist Party of India had moved a no-confidence motion on the issue of the India-US nuclear deal. Manmohan Sarkar was also able to show his majority.

Looking at yesterday, seven out of 27 times in the history of the Lok Sabha, it has happened that various governments have had to go home because of direct no-confidence or the fear of it.

Can the Speaker prevent a member from voting?

no. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha cannot in any case prevent a Member of Parliament from voting even if he is going against the party instructions.

When a no-confidence motion is tabled, each party then issues a notice to its Lok Sabha members to ensure attendance in the House and vote as per party instructions, known as a whip. If a Lok Sabha member votes against party instructions, he can be de-seated under the Anti-defection Act.

How can a member be de-seated by voting against party instructions? This is fully explained in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, also known as the Anti-Defection Act –

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha cannot prevent any member from casting his vote and the vote of the said member will be counted whichever way it goes.