Odishatv Bureau

 

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the no-confidence motion debate against the Narendra Modi led NDA government moved by the Opposition, the BJD members staged a walk out from the Parliament today saying that the discussion will not be fruitful for Odisha .

"BJD during last 14 years has witnessed that UPA government's role of 10 years and 4 years of NDA has done injustice to the people of Odisha. Since this discussion will not be fruitful for the people of the state, we the members of BJD would like to abstain from the discussion," said MP Bhartruhari Mahtab before he and his team left the house bringing down the effective strength of the house to 514 .

Earlier, BJD lawmaker Pinaki Misra had stated that the party had been equidistant to the Congress and BJP, a hint that it might abstain from the no-trust motion.

A final decision would be taken by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who will be tracking the debate from Bhubaneshwar, he had said.

The BJD was allotted 15 minutes slot to present its views on the motion.The party has 19 members in the Lok Sabha after the resignation of Kendrapara MP Baijayant Jay Panda.

Similarly, the BJP has been allotted 3 hours 33 minutes, Congress 38 minutes, AIADMK 29 minutes, TMC 27 minutes, , Shiv Sena14 minutes , TDP 13 minutes , TRS 9 minutes , CPIM 7 minutes, SP 6 minutes, NCP 6 minutes and  LJSP-5 minutes

Earlier in the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the MPs to rise to the occasion and ensure a constructive debate.

“Today is an important day in our parliamentary democracy. I am sure my fellow MP colleagues will rise to the occasion and ensure a constructive, comprehensive and disruption-free debate. “We owe this to the people and the makers of our Constitution. India will be watching us closely,” Modi tweeted ahead of the no trust vote in the House.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the discussion on the no trust motion would continue for the entire day and the vote would take place at 6 p.m.She said the House would also skip lunch.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), an estranged ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government, moved the no-confidence motion on Wednesday, which was admitted by Mahajan.

The no-confidence motion has the support of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).The ruling NDA, however, enjoys a comfortable majority in the House. The BJP which leads the ruling combine has 273 members in the House that has an effective strength of 533, excluding the Speaker.

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