Why only 38 minutes to us? Cong requests more time in no-trust debate

New Delhi: Minutes before the start of the no-confidence motion debate in parliament today, the Congress protested in the Lok Sabha about its speakers being allotted less time. The Congress has been allocated mere 38 minutes in the seven-hour debate and Rahul Gandhi is the lead speaker.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP, which enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha has been assigned 3 hours and 33 minutes.

Also Read: BJP gets 3.5 hours, Cong 39 minutes to speak on no-confidence motion

"This is a very important motion, people will be watching it very closely. We request you to not put a time limit," Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said.

"This is a no-confidence motion, the opposition should be given more time to speak than the government," he argued, as across the floor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked on.

Rejecting the argument, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said a time limit had to be enforced. "What you said, that there should not be any time limit, is something only God can say," she said.

Taking a jibe at lawmakers who ignore time limits and warnings to wind up their statement, the Speaker said: "You will any way take more time."

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was the first to seek the no-confidence motion, initiated the debate and was allocated 13 minutes by the Speaker.

Other opposition parties such as the AIADMK, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal and Telangana Rashtra Samithi have been allocated 29 minutes, 27 minutes, 15 minutes and nine minutes.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Thursday tweeted that 38 minutes were allocated for an earthquake in the House and 13 minutes for the mover of the motion.

The Congress chief had famously said in a previous session that if he were allowed to speak, there would be an earthquake in parliament.