After a 14-hour debate, a no-trust motion moved by the Congress against the Raman Singh-led BJP government was defeated by a voice vote in the Chhattisgarh Assembly in the wee hours on Saturday. The debate started after 12 noon yesterday and ended at 2.10 AM today. Several issues including asex CD case, corruption and law and order situation were raised.

Chief Minister Raman Singh termed the allegations levelled by the opposition as "direction-less and baseless". The Congress has made a failed attempt to mislead people, he said during his reply which lasted for over an hour. "In the last 15 years, Congress has failed to play the role of constructive opposition and has never come up with any alternative policy.

The no-confidence motion was direction-less, unprincipled, unsubstantiated and unplanned," Singh said. The Congress has failed to raise even one issue, fact or a piece of evidence which could have cornered the BJP government, he said. The BJP is in power in 19 states, ruling almost 70 per cent of the country, while the Congress's rule has shrunk to only six per cent of the country's territory, Singh said.

"The charge sheet presented by the Congress in the no-confidence motion clearly shows it has already accepted its defeat. In the winter session it had moved a no-confidence motion which had 168 points, now the number is reduced to 15. "Like the Congress party, its charge sheet has also shrunk," he quipped.

Singh gave a detailed account of his government's achievements and said it will retain power for the fourth time in a row in the coming Assembly polls. Earlier, Leader of Opposition T S Singhdeo said the state government had cheated people by not fulfilling its promises and by perpetrating scams.

"The government has failed on all fronts. Farmers are facing a crisis, theyouth have no jobs, women are unsafe and public representatives are being targeted," the Congress leader said. Referring to the cases against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, Singhdeo said Baghel was being targeted by the government machinery with political motives.

The government did not agree to the demand of probe of the alleged suicide of Rinku Khanuja, he said. Khanuja had been questioned by the CBI in a case of a sex CD which allegedly featured a Chhattisgarh minister. The government has lost people's trust as several sections of society including Shikshakarmis (teachers), nurses and families of police personnel are agitating, he said.

Despite the government's tall claims of development in the last 15 years, the poor's lot has not improved, he said. The LoP also hit out at the government over the issues related to health, law and order and the agriculture sector. After the debate, the motion was put to voice vote and was defeated.

Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal then completed other business of the House and adjourned the Assembly sine die. This was the third no-trust motion faced by the Raman Singh government. The state, under BJP rule since 2003, will be going to the polls later this year.