India's ruling party to face no-confidence vote, amid rise in mob violence

Posted by kuailai99 on July 25th, 2018

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media at Parliament House in Delhi, ahead of Friday's no-confidence motion against the government.To get more Asia news, you can visit shine news official website. New Delhi (CNN)India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to face a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Friday in the wake of a spate of mob attacks against minorities and high profile rape cases.

The vote is the first no-confidence motion to be approved by India's lower house in 15 years, though it is unlikely to trouble the BJP, who continue to hold a significant parliamentary majority. Taking the floor on Friday, Rahul Gandhi, president of the main opposition Indian National Congress party, launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's failure to address the rise in violence and lawlessness gripping parts of India. "In other countries, there is an opinion that for the first time in its history, India has not been able to protect its women," Gandhi, the scion of India's most famous political dynasty, said as he addressed the lower house of parliament.

"It is the first time in India's history that we are garnering such a reputation. This has never happened before," said Gandhi. "Indians are being beaten up, crushed and the Prime Minister hasn't uttered a word ... Do minorities, Dalits (lowest caste) and Adivasis (tribal community) not belong to this country? Are they from another country? Are women not from the country? Why doesn't the Prime Minister speak up when this happens?" Gandhi's comments follow an announcement from WhatsApp on Friday, that the messaging app will begin limiting the ability of users in India to forward messages to more than five people, after the spread of false information led to scenes of mob violence across the country. Modi, who is expected to address parliament around 6.30 p.m.

local time, appeared relaxed ahead of the vote. In a statement posted to Twitter on Friday, the prime minister said the motion represented an "important day in our Parliamentary democracy." "I am sure my fellow MP colleagues will rise to the occasion and ensure a constructive, comprehensive and disruption free debate. We owe this to the people and the makers of our Constitution," added Modi. ]With 274 members, Modi's BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition has a clear majority in the 534-seat lower house of parliament. The opposition Congress party and its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is hoping to gain political traction by using the vote to focus attention on slow job growth and deteriorating law and order. Economic change was the foundation of Modi's 2014 election campaign, which saw him oust the Congress-led UPA coalition government with a landslide victory.