Proof of ‘confidence’? This was his 22nd floor test

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan said that it was the best possible way to prove that the Opposition’s allegations were baseless.

However, Opposition leaders believe that by repeatedly calling the motion of trust, the CM has trivialised it. Opposition leader Lalji Tandon observed that the motion of trust had become a routine affair and now, even a child will be able to guess when Mulayam will try to prove his majority next. “You tell him that his government has failed to action against the Allahabad Madarsa rape accused and he summons his MLAs in the House. You tell him the riot in Gorakhpur needs attention, and he says he can prove his majority on the floor of the House,” he said.

“Whenever we opposed this muscle-flexing in the name of the trust vote, the Speaker and Mulayam’s MLAs don’t allow us to speak. So, we walk out,” said Tandon. The supplementary and interim budgets are treated at par with the trust vote, he added.

The CM has moved three annual budgets and total 15 interim budgets, supplementary budgets and supplementary demand besides four votes of confidence and got them passed. In most cases, it was moved in the House and passed the same day.

On such occasions, the BSP and the BJP boycotted, the Congress always opposed initially, but finally offered unconditional support.

BJP MLA Laxmi Kant Bajpai, who has the reputation of a well-read legislator, said: “After spending months in the library to find out if there is any state where trust vote has been moved so many times, I have reached the conclusion that Mulayam can comfortably apply for the world record.”