What is a No-Confidence motion
When a breach of confidence prevails for a government that it no longer has the confidence of majority of the member in the parliament then a floor test called as No Confidence motion is passed.
The ruling government has to prove its majority in the Lok sabha. A government can only function if it has the majority support in the Lok Sabha.
Who can move no-confidence motion & what happens after
Any member of the Lok Sabha can move No Confidence motion & it can be moved only in Lok Sabha and not Rajya Sabha.It needs at least 50 member support to introduce the motion in Lok Sabha.
A Member of the Lok Sabha who wish to pass a No Confidence motion has to submit a written notice to the Speaker of the house.
Speaker after accepting gives a date for floor test to the ruling government to prove its majority. Allotted date has to be within 10 days from the day of acceptance of the motion.
If the government failed to prove the majority then it gets dissolved leading to resignation by Prime Minister and council of ministers.
When it was first moved
No Confidence motion is not mentioned in our Constitution but present in the Rule Book of Lok Sabha.
Article 118 of the Constitution allows each house of Parliament to make its own rules for conduct of business.
Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha specifies the procedure for a motion of no-confidence.
First used against Jawaharlal Nehru by Acharya Kripalani in 1963 when India lost to China in 1962. However PM Nehru proved the majority thus No Confidence motion was unsuccessful.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee government lost it in 1999 when No Confidence motion was used by just one vote and thus the government dissolved.
What is censure motion
Censure motion is usually moved by the opposition party against the ruling party or any of its ministers for failure / lapses in certain policies and its related to harsh criticism of the government. Moved in Lok Sabha & State Assembly
Difference between Censure Motion & No Confidence Motion
- Censure Motion is moved for censuring the council of ministers for specific policies and action whereas
No Confidence Motion is moved to verify/confirm the confidence of Lok Sabha in the council of ministers.
- Censure Motion can be moved against an individual minister, a group of ministers and the entire council of ministers but
No confidence Motion can only be moved against the entire council of ministers.
- When Censure Motion is passed the council of ministers need not resign from the office in Lok Sabha whereas
if No Confidence Motion is passed/successful, the council of minister must resign from the office in Lok Sabha.
- Reasons must be stated for its adoption in the Lok Sabha whenever a Censure Motion is passed whereas
No such reasons for its adoption are required to be stated in the Lok Sabha when a No Confidence motion is introduced.