New Delhi, July 20: The no-confidence motion, which the Congress-led Opposition had intended to move against the Narendra Modi government since the Budget Session, would finally be taken up in Lok Sabha today. A day before the no-trust vote, the government was confident on defeating it. The Opposition, on the other hand, is eyeing for unity among its ranks.

With a 535-member effective strength of Lok Sabha, the BJP alone has 273 lawmakers -- five above the halfway mark as the per the current strength of the House. On adding the NDA allies, the number climbs to 314.

No major fissures within the BJP

The scope of cross-voting from the BJP is largely restricted. The party has six rebel MPs, who have lately marked their dissent. They are: Kirti Azad, Shatrughan Sinha, Savitri Bai Phule, Ashok Dohre, Chhote Lal and Rajkumar Saini.

BJP sources claim that barring Phule, all other rebels will not defy the whip issued by the party. The credence to the claim comes from the assurance given by Shatrughan Sinha late on Thursday.

"Neither the BJP has left me nor have I left them. Like a loyal soldier, I have to stand with my party in the no-trust vote," said Sinha, who has been a vocal critic of the Modi government since the last three years.

'Sonia Gandhi's arithmetic is weak'

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar ridiculed Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi's efforts to bring a no-trust vote against the NDA regime, saying her arithmetic is weak. Kumar claimed she got the numbers incorrect in 1996 and 2003, and "tomorrow will be no exception".

Apart from the NDA parties, some of the Opposition parties will also not participate in this "no-purpose" no-confidence motion, Kumar claimed.

Notably, the AIADMK have decided to vote in favour of the government, said the party's chief coordinator and Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were undecided till Thursday.

Shiv Sena withdraws whip

Hours after instructing its 18 lawmakers to vote against the no-confidence motion, the Shiv Sena withdrew the whip late on Thursday. The party said it would be taking a decision on Friday morning.

No-Confidence Debate in Lower House: Who Gets How Much Time?

- BJP: 3 hours, 38 minutes

- Congress: 38 minutes

- AIADMK: 29 minutes

- TMC: 27 minutes

- BJD: 15 minutes

- Shiv Sena: 14 minutes

- TDP: 13 minutes

- TRS: 9 minutes

- CPI(M): 7 minutes

- Samajwadi Party: 6 minutes

- NCP: 6 minutes

How numbers are stacked up?

The effective strength of the House is 535. The number of lawmakers has been reduced by 10 due to deaths and resignations of incumbent MPs.

The BJP has 273 MPs, which alone empowers it to defeat the no-trust vote. Combined with allies, its strength goes up to 314.

The Congress and other Opposition parties which are supporting the no-confidence vote add up to 167.

Then, why is the Opposition moving the no-confidence motion?

Explaining the rationale, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the no-trust vote is intended to "expose" the Modi government on "lynchings, cow vigilantism, unemployment, atrocities against SC/ST and crime against women". Even if the Opposition does not win the no-trust vote, he added, it will serve as the "launch of our campaign" to unseat this government in 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2018 10:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).