New Delhi, July 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government today faced its first no-confidence motion in the Parliament. The Lok Sabha witnessed a day-long debate on motion of no-confidence moved by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and backed by a slew of Opposition parties. The BJP and allies defeated the no-trust vote with 325 MPs voting against it, whereas, 126 voting in favour. Here are the major highlights of the stormy session of the Parliament

TDP MP Jaydev Galla ripped through NDA and UPA:

Galla kick started the debate on the no-confidence motion moved by his colleague Kesineni Srinivas against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The TDP MP held both the Congress and the BJP responsible for the present condition of Andhra Pradesh. He demanded Special Category Status (SCS) to the state. He claimed that Andhra Pradesh bear the burden of a ₹1.3 lakh crore loan after the bifurcation.

Rahul Gandhi Confronted the NDA Government on Various Fronts:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the Modi government on several fronts including demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST), unemployment, Rafale deal, Doklam stand-off during a debate on the No-Confidence Motion. Gandhi also slammed Defence Minister for lying on Rafale Deal under the pressure from PM Narendra Modi. Gandhi also accused the NDA government of causing hardships to the common man through its policies. The Congress president stole the show by giving hug to the Prime Minister.

Sitharaman Launches Rebuttal:

Accusing the Congress chief of misleading the House, Sitharaman said his allegations on the Rafale deal are “absolutely wrong”. She accused the Gandhi scion of being aloof to facts involving the deal with the French arms manufacturer. On Rahul Gandhi’s claim that he was told by French President Emmanuel Macron that there is no secrecy pact which prevents the sharing of information in public, Sitharaman said it is “untrue”.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh Terms Anti-Sikh Riots as the Biggest Lynching Incident:

Home Minister Rajnath Singh takin a dig on the Congress, termed Anti-Sikh riots of 1984 as the niggest lynching incident. Singh said that law and order was a state subject, but the Centre would provide whatever assistance required. He further added that the state governments should take stringent steps to curb lynchings. Speaking on the Anti-Sikh riots, the home Minister said that the government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and assured that the Sikh community would get justice. Singh while commenting on the Congress president hugging The PM, said that Rahul Gandhi had started 'chipko andolan' in Lok Sabha.

Mallikarjun Kharge accused the NDA government of bluffing the farmers:

Congress legislature leader mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of "bluffing" farmers. "They are only committed to Adani-Ambani and some other top industrialists. If they really care for the farmers, why don't they repel the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana, which has failed to protect the farmers. The only ones who are benefitting from the policy are insurance companies," he said. Kharge claimed that Congress electrified 6,10,000 villages out of 6,23,000 villages. Launching a scathing attack, Kharge said that had the BJP been in power for longer, democracy would have seized to exist.

Modi's point-by-point rebuttal:

Prime Minister Modi on Friday, in his reply on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, touched upon various initiatives introduced by the Centre in the four years of NDA rule. The Prime Minister began by appealing everybody in the House to reject the motion and targeted the Congress by recounting various achievements of his government. The Prime Minister said that the Congress has no belief in itself and hence it does not belief in the various government schemes like Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala Yojana, GST, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Make in India and OROP. He also said that the Opposition was misleading the people of the country in the name of unemployment and claimed that the employment levels in the current NDA regime has been better than the erstwhile UPA regime.

The NDA government, though prevented the no-confidence motion, it gave an opportunity to the Opposition parties to confront government on various issues. The BJP has said that it would move a privilege motion against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for misleading the Lok Sabha and levelling false allegations during the no-confidence motion against PM Modi.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 20, 2018 11:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).