Editorial

No-confidence vote mustn’t be stalled

No motion(प्रस्ताव/व्यापार) expressing lack of confidence in an incumbent(निर्भर/पदधारी)government at the Centre has passed in India’s history. When a government lost majority and was not in a position to muster(गिनती/एकत्र करना) one, its prime minister gracefully resigned(इस्तीफा दे दिया)।. And the present government has the numbers to comfortably defeat any no-confidence motion brought against it. Even so, it is wholly(पूर्णतः) unacceptable for the Lok Sabha Speaker not to act on a motion of no confidence brought against the government five days ago. She has been adjourning the

House, without taking up any business, because of protest by unruly(अनियंत्रित/उपद्रवी) members. But if protesting members can stall a motion to test a government’s majority, a minority government, once sworn into office, can stay on indefinitely. That would defeat the essential(अनिवार्य/मूलभूत) logic of parliamentary democracy.

How can the Speaker conduct business when some members keep up a shindig(नृत्य/हलचल)inside the House, it might be asked. The answer is quite simple. The Speaker should, if some members refuse to heed her request for order, have them physically removed from the House, so that the remaining members can carry on with the business of the House. The Congress hasinitiated(आरंभ करना) its own motion of no confidence. The ruling BJP says it, too, wants the House to function. Let both parties make it clear to the Speaker that they would support a move to expel(निष्कासित) members who try to prevent(प्रतिबंध करना/निवारण करना) the House from functioning. This would make it easier for the Speaker to take this extreme but necessary step, if disruption(विघटन/भंग) of the House does not cease. What purpose is served by a vote of no confidence if it is guaranteed to get defeated(पराजित) in the end? A debate on the performance of the government will precede(बेहतर होना/पूर्व में होना) the vote and that debate, in which members from the Opposition and ruling sides put forth their views on the performance of the government, will serve to provide a stocktaking of the government’s achievements and its failings. Such a stocktaking will enrich(समृद्ध/बढ़ाना) democracy. The Speaker should, therefore, with the support of the parties that want the House to function, proceed with the motion of no confidence, without losing any more time.

Important Vocabulary

1.Incumbent(निर्भर/पदधारी)
Synonyms: binding, necessary, compelling, urgent
Antonyms: unnecessary

2.Muster(गिनती/एकत्र करना)
Synonyms: aggregation, assemblage, assembly, collection, company
Antonyms: division, separation

3.Unruly(अनियंत्रित/उपद्रवी)
Synonyms: disorderly, drunken, fractious, impulsive, lawless
Antonyms: agreeable, calm, cautious, controllable, happy

4.Shindig(नृत्य/हलचल)
Synonyms: gala, affair, ball, banquet, barbecue

5.Defeated(पराजित)
Synonyms: conquered, crushed, overcome

6.Enrich(समृद्ध/बढ़ाना)
Synonyms: augment, cultivate, develop, endow, enhance
Antonyms: decrease, disgrace, worsen, deplete, impoverish

7.Precede(बेहतर होना/पूर्व में होना)
Synonyms: anticipate, foreshadow, predate, presage, antecede
Antonyms: end, finish, follow, obey, go after

8.Expel(निष्कासित)
Synonyms: dislodge, drive out, evacuate, remove, belch
Antonyms: absorb, admit, allow, permit, take in