What started as a mild storm was destined to end with a whimper. No one expected the Modi government to fall right now; least of all
the Opposition. Yet, the big question was why a No-Trust motion at this precise hour. Having gone through the grind thereof, it was but
natural that the last laugh was reserved for the ruling side – past the hug and wink. It would be safe to infer that the ruling BJP, or PM Modi in particular, was game with the Opposition frenzy for a no-trust at the start of the Monsoon session of Parliament. For one, the government faced no serious crisis. It faced no situation of a major scam or scandal, or even a scenario of an error of judgement. Modi might not be performing in the best possible way, but the government was quietly carrying on. If the aim of the Opposition – principally the Congress – was to “expose” the government with its omissions and commissions, it didn’t come well-prepared. By raising the Rafale issue, Rahul Gandhi has not scored points; rather, he came across as irresponsible and immature.
If the many cases of lynching were what could have put the Modi government on the mat, home minister Rajnath Singh saved the day for Modi by shifting the focus to the 1984 riots in Delhi. He stressed that 1984 presented the worst scenario of lynching – of Sikhs by
pro-Congress gangs — the nation had ever witnessed directly under the watch of then Congress PM Rajiv Gandhi. A stout defence of his government’s performance by PM Modi was only to be expected by way of a summing up of the debate. And Modi took full advantage of the opportunity to hit out at the Opposition, particularly the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi.
A no-confidence motion at this juncture was uncalled for. The Opposition rather wasted a precious opportunity. It cannot come up with a no-trust move against the Modi government, as there is a minimum requirement of six months for tabling another such motion. By then, Modi would already be in the campaign mode for the general elections 2019. No-trust motions are, by convention, brought about at critical junctures. The past 15 years saw no no-trust motion in Parliament; the last one being during the Vajpayee era. There,
perhaps, was a scope for such a push against Modi immediately after the hugely controversial Demonetisation step. He has already weathered that storm. Ultimately, the Modi Government will be judged by the people of India. So much for “no confidence” motions!