SECTION 1 - (CHAPTER 2)

REPLY TO NO CONFIDENCE MOTION

Lok Sabha on 20 March, 1967

EDITORIAL NOTE

The motion was moved on the Rajasthan issue. In the Assembly Election, the Congress party had won 88 seats. Prior to elections, the Opposition parties had not formed any coalition. After the Elections, the United Front comprising of 80 members was formed. There were 13 independents. It was not clear how many independents unambiguously supported the United Front. As the single largest party in the Assembly the Governor invited the Congress Party to form the government, the opposition parties launched an agitation.

Shri M. L. Sukhadia, leader of the Congress legislature party found that in the prevailing conditions, it was not possible for the Legislature to function. In this background, he wrote to the Governor on 12 March refusing to form the Government, though he considered that he was in majority. Taking an overall view of the political law and order situation, the Governor found it inadvisable to ask the opposition party to form the Government. In these circumstances, the Governor recommended imposition of the President’s rule for a Short Period.

In the background of above circumstances, the No Confidence Motion was moved in the Lok Sabha by Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee. Shri Y.B.Chavan’s reply dealt with the complex political situation and the Constitutional responsibility placed on the office of the Governor.

The Minister of Home Affairs (Shri Y. B. Chavan) : I cannot claim that I have heard all the speeches, but certainly I have heard the most important speeches in this debate...

Shri S. M. Banerjee (Kanpur) : It is an aspersion on the members. Every Member’s speech is an important one.

Shri Y. B. Chavan : Not necessarily; I was only referring to my presence in the House because I had to be in the other House also for some time. My hon. friend did not allow me to complete my sentence; I was going to say that even though I had not heard the speeches of the other Members I had certainly got the important points that they had made.

Some of the members naturally confined themselves to the specific issue on which this no confidence motion is based. Others naturally tried to cover general issues and they made the attack a little more comprehensive. But I would certainly like to begin with, to confine myself to the Rajasthan issue itself, in respect of which Shri Vajpayee had decided to move this no-confidence motion.