Modi govt defeats no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha amid a hug and drama

The Congress chief delivered a stinging speech that riled BJP members, and concluded it by walking across the well of the House to startle the PM with a hug

The Narendra Modi government comfortably defeated the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Friday. But if the debate was a trailer of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a united Opposition, it ended in a stalemate.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi won the battle of optics in the afternoon when he surprised the Prime Minister with a hug, which Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan termed “drama”. The evening belonged to Modi as he delivered a 100-minute speech, that had just about enough to keep his party’s core supporters enthused.

The no-confidence motion was defeated