Patna is witnessing high-pitched drama before the trust vote of the Nitish Kumar-led government.
Anwarul Hoda / Patna
Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar will face the floor test in the state assembly on the first day of the session on Monday, Feb 12 . NDA leaders have said that they will confidently prove the majority in the House of 243 members. On the other hand, the opposition RJD is tightlipped over its strategy in the House. The incumbent Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary who is an RJD member, has refused to budge down and has not resigned. Before the initiation of the trust vote of the NDA government, Mr. Choudhary will face a no-confidence motion brought by BJP and JD (U) members.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a meeting of party MLAs in Patna this evening and briefed them about the strategy for tomorrow. Senior JD(U) leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar said after the meeting that the ruling alliance is in a comfortable position. He also said that in the present context, the opposition Grand Alliance has no majority so the incumbent Speaker should resign for smooth functioning of proceedings of the House.
BJP senior leader and Union Minister Nityanand Rai said in Patna that the victory of NDA has already been decided because the number game is in favour of the ruling alliance. RJD leader Manoj Jha alleged guidelines of the Supreme Court were not followed for no confidence notice against the Speaker Mr. Choudhary.
A series of meetings were held by the BJP and RJD also to thwart any possibility of defection. State capital Patna is witnessing high-pitched drama before the trust vote of the Nitish Kumar-led government. All political parties are trying to flock together their MLAs to rule out the threat of poaching from their rival outfits.
The RJD and Left party MLAs are camping in Patna at the residence of former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. The Congress MLAs who are reaching from Hyderabad are also expected to join their ally partners. They will reach the Assembly together straight from Tejashwi Yadav’s residence. BJP had also shifted its MLAs to Bodhgaya as its strategy and they also reached Patna this evening.
In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the NDA claimed to have the support of 128 MLAs comprising BJP, JD(U) , Hindustani Awam Morcha and one Independent. The Grand Alliance led by RJD -Congress has the support of 114 MLAs. The magic figure to prove the majority is 122 in the assembly.
The floor test has been necessitated after Nitish Kumar ditched the grand alliance to form a new government with the BJP, which he had dumped in 2022.
Meanwhile legislators from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and allies of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ were housed at a temporary shelter at Tejashwi Yadav’s residence in Patna. Since Saturday evening, the MLAs have been accommodated at Tejashwi Yadav’s residence, where they spent the night together.
