BJD stages walkout from no-confidence motion, abstain from voting

NEW DELHI: The Biju Janata Dal leaders staged a walkout in the current Parliament session on Friday where the no-confidence motion was discussed. BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab addressed the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan stating that both UPA and NDA government has done injustice to the people of Odisha.

He said, "the UPA government rule of ten years and four years of NDA has done injustice to the people of Odisha..this discussion will not be in any way fruitful for the people of India, therefore, we are walking out and not participating in the discussion." 

The walkout by BJD lawmakers meant that they will abstain from voting.

BJD had not revealed their stand on the no-confidence motion and with 19 Members of Parliament, they had the fifth largest number of members in the Lower House.

The walkout comes after the BJP leader had a meeting in Delhi on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government faces its first no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

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The debate started at 11 am on Friday and is likely to continue till late evening.

The treasury and opposition benches will lock horns over a host of issues even as the former is confident of winning the no-trust motion based on the number game in the Lok Sabha.

A few hours before the debate, the Modi reminded the Lok Sabha MPs that the entire country would be following the proceedings in Parliament closely.