No confidence motion: Here is why the BJP decided to face it

New Delhi, July 19: The BJP faces a crucial test on Friday as Lok Sabha takes up th no-confidence motion. The trust vote was brought by the TDP and opposition parties, with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan admitting the notice.

The BJP says it is confident of defeating the motion as it would easily get the support of 314 MPs. On Wednesday when the motion was admitted it took the opposition by surprise as the leaders had sought for the same to be taken up within 10 days.

The Trinamool Congress had sought a different date as it had a mega rally planned in Kolkata over the weekend. After it was decided that the motion would be taken up on Friday, Mamata Banerjee ordered her 34 MPs to return to Delhi immediately.

The BJP felt that the motion should be admitted immediately as the opposition would not then use it as an excuse to disrupt Parliament. The BJP's Ananth Kumar said that the party would not get just the NDA votes, but support from other parties as well.

There are several reasons, why the BJP decided to agree to face the trust vote. Firstly there are several important bills to be passed and it did not want the opposition to disrupt Parliament. During the discussions that the party had ahead of the Monsoon session, party Amit Shah said that there was a need to face the trust vote and ensure it was defeated. Once defeated it would send out a very strong message about how united the opposition is.

Ananth Kumar added that there needs to be a debate in Parliament. We will use it as an opportunity to counter the lies that the Opposition has been telling, he also added. All the welfare schemes introduced by us will be spoken about in Parliament, he also added.

A BJP source told OneIndia that that they would easily get the support of 314 MLAs. There are 535 members in the house and the magic number is 268.

The NDA has 313 members in the House which includes Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. On its own the BJP has 274 members while the Shiv Sena has 18, LJP six and SAD, four.

The opposition on the other had has 222 members which includes 63 from the Congress led UPA. The AIADMK has 37, TMC, 34, BJD, 20, TDP, 16 and TRS, 11.