RAIPUR: A No-confidence motion moved by the Congress against the ruling BJP government in Chhattisgarh was defeated after 19 hours of debate that continued till 7 am in the Assembly on Saturday.
The motion was put to vote on Saturday morning by Speaker Gauri Shankar Agrawal. Forty-eight members voted against the motion and 38 in favour. In the House of 90 members, the ruling party has 49 MLAs and the Opposition, which moved the no-trust motion, has 38 members.
The Opposition targeted the Raman Singh government alleging failure of government’s promises, rising corruption, farmers’ suicide among the accusations listed on 168 points.In his hour-long speech, Chief Minister Raman Singh asserted the “all-round development and good governance that turned Chhattisgarh into a role model” under his regime as he countered the charges of the Congress. “The issues taken up by the opposition either have no relevance or are very weak. Some of them are in the courts and many are unfounded. With such an attitude, the Congress is bound to sit in Opposition for the next 15 years”, Singh said.
Leader of Opposition T S Singhdeo, who was highly critical of the government, defended the decision on moving no-confidence motion, citing that all segments of population from north Sarguja to south Bastar were angry and disenchanted with the government. “We knew the outcome as the numbers favoured the BJP, but the Congress succeeded in highlighting the failures and shortcomings of the ruling BJP,” he stated.
The opposition sponsored ‘no-trust motion’, which began at 12 noon on Friday witnessed allegations and counter-allegations amid uproarious scenes in the House as the debate continued till Saturday morning.
The Speaker, after the end of the marathon discussion, declared the motion was lost and the winter session of the Assembly adjourned sine die.