As the debate over the no-confidence motion moved by TDP and Congress was underway in the Lok Sabha on Friday, TDP MPs jumped into the well of the House just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking. The MPs were reportedly disappointed with the Prime Minister, who had spent a majority of his speech time to criticise the Congress rather than discuss the no-confidence motion.
And infuriated with the ruckus created by the TDP MPs, newly appointed BJP chief whip Anurag Thakur and fellow BJP MP Kirit Somaiya asked the MPs to get back to their seats. In the process Anurag pushed a TDP MP, drawing sharp reaction from the Opposition.
Wow! What scenes! So here’s what I witnessed. #TDP MPs came to well, dissatisfied with PM speech. Anurag Thakur & Kirit Somaiya tried to tell them to go back. Opposition roared in unison when they saw Thakur physically trying to push away a TDP MP. Finally Gadkari brokered peace.
— Poulomi Saha (@PoulomiMSaha) July 20, 2018
The protesting MPs were later pacified by the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
However, the TDP spent the remaining portion of Modi’s speech chanting ‘We want justice!’ from their assigned seats.
Several people expressed shock at the over enthusiasm of Anurag Thakur and slammed him for trying to physically manhandle the protesting TDP MPs.
Alleging betrayal by the Narendra Modi led government, for denying Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, the TDP had moved a no-confidence motion on Friday.
However, the Prime Minister saved his ammunition to target the Congress and addressed several other issues like Surgical strike, which has been called as a bluff by the Opposition.
Later, Modi spoke about the TDP and said that the party did a U-turn to settle scores in regional politics with YSRCP. “I remember a statement made by a TDP MP who had said that the special package is better than special status. State Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had also thanked the Finance Minister. But they did a U-turn,” Modi said.
“As the elections drew nearer. The praise changed into criticism,” he said.
After the two-hour long speech TDP leader Kesineni Srinivas was called to reply. Srinivas in his speech remarked that Modi was the greatest actor of our time. “He’s a great orator and a great drama artiste,” he said, to outrage from the treasury benches.
The Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan was quick to reply, “If you have something substantial to say, please speak.”
Earlier in the day, the debate was initiated by Guntur MP Jayadev Galla,who had stated that the no-confidence motion was moved against the Narendra Modi government due to a lack of fairness, lack of trust, lack of priority and the lack of an unbiased approach towards Andhra Pradesh. TDP has been demanding special category status for Andhra.
“The saga of Andhra Pradesh during this Modi-Shah regime is a saga of empty promises. This is not a war between the TDP and the BJP. It is a fight between morality and majority, between the Modi regime and the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a dharmayudha,” Jayadev said in the Lok Sabha.
After the long-day, the voting was conducted in which out of a total 451 votes were polled – 126 in favour of the no-confidence motion, while the majority of 325 votes were against the motion.