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No-trust move against Gujarat government fails

The no-confidence motion tabled by leader of the opposition and senior state Congress leader Amarsinh Chaudhary against the four-month-old ministry of Keshubhai Patel in Gujarat was defeated on the floor of the assembly.

Fifty-four votes were in favour of the motion while 117 votes went against the motion. In a house of 182, the BJP has a strength of 117, the Congress, (53), the Rashtriya Janata Party and Janata Dal (four each), Samajwadi Party (one), and independents (three).

Tabling the motion, Chaudhary said the government didn't appear to exist in Gujarat. He criticised the state government for its ''utter failure'' in all fields, including law and order, the rise in prices of edible oil and for bad handling of the situation in Kandla during the recent cyclone.

Chaudhary said the bureaucracy was beyond the control of the state government and warned the officials that the Congress would soon return to power.

He said the BJP had links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Durga Vahini and that the members of these organisations had full control over all major decisions.

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