Who will be the biggest beneficiary of no-confidence motion—Modi government or opposition?

It’s funny that the opposition is moving a no-confidence motion against the Modi government. In fact, it’s quite absurd. When all the dust is settled within a week, the ruling party will be benefitted the most from this move.

The news came on Wednesday that Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan has accepted a no-confidence motion against the government, moved by TDP’s Kesineni Srinivas. The floor test will take place on Friday. The rule says a minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion in order for the speaker to accept it. Now it isn’t clear who are the members who supported it. But if it’s Congress, it will be another self-goal for them.

Let’s talk numbers first. There are 544 seats in Lok Sabha. With a vacancy of 10 seats, the current strength is 534. Meaning, right now, the majority mark is 268. At present, NDA’s total number of seats is 314. BJP has 273 seats. Even with no support from the allies, BJP would still be able to prove its majority.

So, this no-confidence motion doesn’t make much of a sense. Modi government would easily stand tall on floor test this Friday. Now, how will it impact the political scenario at a time when we’re less than a year away from what is expected to be a combustible General Election 2019?

Well, in short, this (absurd) step from the opposition will help BJP summon its falling allies and display muscle power against the growing opposition. It’s a great opportunity for them to initiate talks with dissenting allies and bring them together to put on a display in the public that the Modi government still enjoys big support from the diverse political spectrum. This perception will greatly help BJP to possibly cross the majority mark for the second term.

Also, while currently looking very strong, the gathbandhan of the opposition parties might look very timid if BJP manages to bring its discorded allies, like Shiv Sena, together. This will disfavor the parties like Congress who is already struggling to gain the trust of the general public. In short, the no-confidence motion against Modi government is merely a political spectacle that will help BJP. Period. Take this development as the first trumpet in the runner-up to general election 2019.

As it happened on Friday, the ball certainly looks to be in Modi Government’s court, despite all the criticism P M Modi has earned on the grounds of morality. One of the biggest complaint with him was his silence on the Andhra Pradesh issue. While TDP MP Srinivas Said that PM had numbers but not morality, the opposition called his speech a “weak rhetoric”.

The highlight however were not the speech given by Modi, but opposition party’s president, Rahul Gandhi’s sweet gesture, hugging Modi. Internet is flooding with memes and comments over this. Modi earlier called the no-confidence motion, the strategy of opposition to weaken people’s trust in the ruling party, but it is clear since ever that Modi will still be having his influence intact.