Fact Check: Did PM Modi ‘Predict’ No-Confidence Motion Against His Govt 4 Yrs Ago?

New Delhi: On a day when the Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi brought a no-confidence motion against the Central government in Parliament, an old comment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone viral.

In a video of a debate in Parliament on the President’s speech during Budget session on February 7, 2019, Modi is heard saying that the Opposition should prepare for yet another no-trust motion in 2023. The Prime Minister was referring to his government defeating such a motion in 2018.

“I want to offer my best wishes… prepare so hard that you get another chance to bring a no-confidence motion in 2023,” Modi had said in Lok Sabha, drawing laughter and desk-thumping from fellow-BJP MPs.

“This is Samarpan Bhav (service) that from two (MPs) we are sitting here (in power). And the result of ahankar (arrogance) is that from 400, you have come down to 40. Look where you are today,” he quipped, taking a dig at Congress.

Watch the video here:

In 2018, the BJP government won a no confidence vote moved by N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party and backed by many Opposition parties.

As the four-year-and-a-half old video made the rounds today, BJP called it PM Modi’s “prediction”.

Today’s no-trust motion against the Modi government came amidst a deadlock over the ongoing violence and lawlessness in Manipur.

The motion, backed by the recently-formed INDIA coalition of Opposition parties, is likely to be defeated in Lok Sabha, where the Central government enjoys a big majority.

According to some leaders, the move was aimed at forcing the PM to address the Manipur issue in Manipur.

The Opposition is looking to pounce on the Manipur issue to push for the defeat of BJP government in next year’s general elections, just like they had brought a similar motion in 2018 — a year before the previous Lok Sabha polls.