KOLKATA: The 'no confidence' motion brought in by the Opposition Left Front and Congress in the West Bengal Assembly was defeated by 191-50 votes to the motion on Friday. During the discussion held before the voice votes at the Assembly, the Trinamool Congress supremo lashed at the opposition for the timing of the motion.
“When all the anti-BJP parties are trying to forge unity against the demonetisation move, you bring 'no-confidence' motion against my government. People have confidence in me. I don’t care about your
no confidence,” she said.
At a presser after the defeat of the no-confidence motion, Congress leader Abdul Mannan alleged that the ruling party had poached several of Congress MLAs during the voting and said that the voice of opposition is being gagged. “Only one and half hour was given for discussion before the voting. During Left Front rule, Trinamool had brought no confidence motion against Left Front in 2006 with just 30 MLAs. The voting was not done like this back then,” he said.
Left Front Assembly leader Sujan Chakraborty said that democracy has taken a backseat in West Bengal.
After the defection of 5 MLAs to the Trinamool Congress, Congress has 39 legislators while the Left Front has 31 MLAs in the 294-seat Assembly. The Trinamool with its sheer numbers of 216 MLAs was expected to sail through the motion.