The NDA government sailed through the no-confidence motion against it in the Lok Sabha, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbing it a result of the opposition's "arrogance" and its 'Modi hatao' mindset as he hit back at Rahul Gandhi over "childish" behaviour.
The government got the support of 325 members, while 126 backed the motion with 451 MPs present in the house.
Members of the Shiv Sena, the BJD and the TRS were not present in the house when the voting took place. Several AIADMK members opposed the motion, in a boost to the NDA.
Replying to an over 10-hour debate on the motion, Modi appealed to all parties to defeat it and accused the Congress president of "crushing" the truth and "playing with national security" by making allegations against him on the Doklam issue and by speaking of graft in the Rafale aircraft deal.
Hours after Rahul Gandhi left everyone surprised by walking across to the prime minister's chair to hug him, Modi sought to turn the tables on him, saying he appeared to be in a hurry to occupy his seat as he kept asking him to stand up for an embrace.
"What is his hurry to come to power? Let me tell this member, it is the people who elected us. That is how we have come here," he said.