Govt Plans 'Information Warfare' to Blunt Opposition's Sharp Attacks ahead of No-confidence Debate

The opposition parties are all set to corner the government in Parliament during the no-confidence motion, the debate for which will be held on August 8 to 10 as decided by the Lok Sabha speaker. The reply to the debate will be given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 10. All the members of the opposition parties had walked out of the recent business advisory meeting, calling the government insensitive, and arguing that all parliamentary business must be stopped to take up the no-confidence debate. Now, sources say, the government is all set to “call out the bluff” of the opposition.

A series of briefings will be held by senior ministers along with ruling Members of Parliament to talk about the work that the Narendra Modi government has done for all strata of society, including completing projects that never saw the light of day under Congress-led UPA rule.

Sources say the ministers will also call out the non-seriousness of the opposition, which has demanded a discussion on vital issues like the Manipur violence, but when a debate was offered by the government, they refused to participate citing technicalities.

The first such briefing will be held jointly by minister of state for IT and skill development Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for civil aviation and road transport General (R) VK Singh, and Baroda’s Member of Parliament Ranjanben Bhatt on Wednesday.

In the following days, several union ministers, including Bhupender Yadav, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hardeep Puri, and Kiren Rijiju among others, will hold such briefings.

This was the same strategy that was followed by the government in the previous budget session of Parliament, where several ministers highlighted the work done by the Modi government in its nine years of office.

While opposition parties have stitched up a united front and have named it “INDIA”, the BJP-led NDA has decided that it will continue to call this rival bloc UPA.

In the meeting on Monday with NDA leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the MPs that the name change means nothing. The basic character of the “corrupt alliance” remains the same, the PM had said while pointing out the corruption cases during the 10-year UPA rule.