Motion of no confidence in India
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In India, a motion of no confidence, also called vote of no confidence/no trust or a floor test, is a motion of no confidence initiated in the Lok Sabha or in a state legislative assembly, to determine the confidence of the House in the Council of Ministers. If the motion is passed by a majority of the members of the house, all the ministers are expected to resign on moral grounds.[1][2] When a similar motion is moved by a minister to prove their command of confidence, it is called motion of confidence/vote of trust.[3]
List
Lok Sabha – No Confidence Motions
| Year | Prime Minister | Party/Alliance in Power | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Indian National Congress | Survived | First-ever no-confidence motion post Sino-Indian War.[4] |
| 1979 | Morarji Desai | Janata Party | Resigned | Resigned before vote; Janata Party split.[5] |
| 1993 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | Indian National Congress | Survived | Narrow victory; allegations of bribery.[6] |
| 2003 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | National Democratic Alliance | Survived | Motion moved by Sonia Gandhi.[7] |
| 2008 | Manmohan Singh | INC-led UPA | Survived | Over Indo-US Nuclear Deal.[8] |
| 2018 | Narendra Modi | National Democratic Alliance | Survived | Moved by TDP over the non-allocation of funds to the state of Andhra Pradesh NDA won with 325 votes.[9] |
| 2023 | Narendra Modi | National Democratic Alliance | Survived | Moved by Gaurav Gogoi over the ethnic violence in the state of Manipur. Defeated by a voice vote after Opposition walkout.[10] |
State Assemblies – No Confidence Motions
| Year | State | Chief Minister | Party/Alliance in Power | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Kerala | R. Sankar | INC | Resigned | On 8 September 1964, a no-confidence motion was put to vote with 73 Members voting for it and 50 Members voting against it. The motion was declared as carried and the Chief Minister resigned.[11]
Governor's rule was imposed with only 6 months left for the term of the assembly to expire. Elections were held as per schedule in March 1965, which led to a hung assembly.[12] |
| 1973 | Tamil Nadu | M. Karunanidhi | DMK | Survived | Congress (Indira) withdrew support.[13] |
| 1982 | Kerala | K. Karunakaran | INC (UDF) | Survived
(Chief Minister resigned after a month) |
On February 2, 1982, a no-confidence motion was put to vote with 70 members each voting for and against the motion. Then Speaker exercised casting vote against the motion under Art. 189 of the constitution and the motion was declared as lost.[14][15]
In March 1982, a legislator defected to the opposition following which the Chief Minister resigned, leading to the imposition of Governor's rule. Subsequently, an early election was held in May 1982 which the UDF won. |
| 1984 | Andhra Pradesh | N. T. Rama Rao | TDP | Reinstated | Dismissed by Governor; reinstated under public pressure.[16] |
| 1998 | Uttar Pradesh | Kalyan Singh | BJP-led coalition | Survived | Faced instability due to alliance issues.[17] |
| 2005 | Bihar | Nitish Kumar | JD(U)–BJP | Resigned | Failed to prove majority in 7 days.[18] |
| 2011 | Andhra Pradesh | N. Kiran Kumar Reddy | Indian National Congress | Survived | N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Leader of the Opposition, introduced a no-confidence motion against the government. After a 16 hour debate, voting took place at around 1am on 6 December 2011. The government survived the motion, with 160 members voting against and 122 in favour.[19][20] |
| 2016 | Uttarakhand | Harish Rawat | INC | Reinstated | SC restored government after President's Rule.[21] |
| 2016 | Arunachal Pradesh | Nabam Tuki | INC | Lost | Rebel faction supported BJP.[22] |
| 2020 | Madhya Pradesh | Kamal Nath | INC | Resigned | 22 MLAs defected to BJP.[23] |
| 2020 | Rajasthan | Ashok Gehlot | INC | Survived | Rebellion by Sachin Pilot faction.[24] |
| 2023 | Maharashtra | Eknath Shinde | BJP–Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) | Survived | Toppled Maha Vikas Aghadi government.[25] |
