How many times was the “Motion of No Confidence” passed in India?

Did you know that 11 prime ministers have been defeated through a motion of no confidence in the United Kingdom while no Australian Prime Minister has ever been defeated in the House of Representatives by an explicit motion of no confidence? What about India then? Before we get into the statistics, let us understand the term “Motion of No Confidence”.

During the recent times, we have been hearing this term “Motion of No Confidence” a lot. But do all of us know what is “Motion of No Confidence” is according to law? Let us understand this term in detail.
 

A motion of no confidence also known as vote of no confidence, is a statement which states that a person in an authoritative position is no longer fit to hold that position because they are failing to carry out obligations or are making decisions that other members feel unfavourable. In India, no confidence motion is directly against the entire cabinet. Sometimes a motion of no confidence is proposed only to pressurise the government.
 

While there are many variations for executing a motion of no confidence in other countries – India has its own rules and regulations to pass or execute a motion of no confidence or a vote of no confidence. In India, a motion of no confidence can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Parliament. The motion of no confidence is admitted for discussion only when a minimum of 50 members of the house support the motion. If a majority of the members of the house vote in favour of the motion, the motion is passed and the Government is bound to vacate the office.
 

As of July 2018, a number of no confidence motions have been admitted for discussion in India. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi faced the most number of no-confidence motions – 15 times, followed by Lal Bahadur Shastri and Narasimha Rao who faced it three times. Morarji Desai faced the no confidence motion twice while Jawahar Lal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi faced it once each. Acharya Kripalani was the first one to move the motion of no confidence immediately after the India China War.

We hope that you have enjoyed reading this article and also understood the basics of the term “Motion of No Confidence”. Do not forget to comment below if you have any queries or feedback.