Patna, February 12
The National Democratic Alliance Government in Bihar, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Monday won the trust vote in the state Assembly, with 129 MLAs voting in favour of the motion, amid a walkout by all non-NDA members.
Altogether, 129 legislators voted in favour of the motion, but Kumar rose to suggest that the vote of Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari, who belongs to the JD(U), also be counted.
Usually, the person in the Chair does not take part in voting, unless there is a tie.
Hazari ordered a headcount after having declared the motion as passed through voice vote, following a request from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, which was seconded by Kumar, the JD(U) president.
The NDA, comprising the JD(U), BJP, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and an Independent, had a combined strength of 128 in the 243-strong assembly. However, it received a shot in the arm with three RJD MLAs – Prahlad Yadav, Chetan Anand and Neelam Devi – walking over to the ruling side.
BJP MLAs, who were elated at the party’s return to power after a gap of nearly 17 months, erupted in chants of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ as the trust vote was won by the chief minister, who spoke for nearly 30 minutes, venting spleen against erstwhile allies RJD and Congress as also the opposition INDIA bloc, which he had helped form.
Pointing towards RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, who had served as his deputy till he remained with the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, Kumar fumed: “What was the shape of Bihar while it was ruled by his father (Lalu Prasad). There were no roads, people were afraid of venturing out in the dark after sunset. We set it right upon coming to power in 2005.”
The JD(U) chief, who was taunted by Yadav with the remark “what is the guarantee that Kumar will not do a flip-flop yet again?”, asserted that he was “with my old allies for ever”and lamented that his efforts to bring together parties opposed to the BJP proved to be of no avail.
“I had warned the Congress that things were not going well (in INDIA bloc). Some people were having problems with me occupying the centre-stage. Even his (Yadav’s) father seemed to have joined my detractors,” alleged Kumar, who was seen as a contender for the post of a convenor or the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition coalition.
Kumar also came down heavily on Yadav for the claim that the state witnessed large-scale recruitment of teachers as a result of the RJD’s commitment to job creation.
“Your party (RJD) has been involved in financial wrongdoings whenever it has been in power. All good work was done when the education department was held by my party. For a brief period, it was with the Congress but you people created problems even back then,” the CM claimed.
The allusion was to Ashok Choudhary, former state Congress president, who had held the education portfolio when Kumar first shared power with the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ between 2015 and 2017. Choudhary subsequently switched over to the JD(U) and was a powerful minister till recently.
The JD(U) supremo also questioned the RJD’s claim of championing the cause of Muslims, and pointed out that it was only under his rule the state did not witness any major communal conflagration, unlike in the past, and even the culprits of the 1989 riots, which took place before the ascendancy of Lalu Prasad, were brought to justice only after the NDA came to power.
Earlier, the House passed a resolution for the removal of Awadh Bihari Chaudhary who belongs to the RJD, but had refused to resign after the party lost power, and a no-confidence motion was moved against him by the NDA.
A point of order was raised by Yadav when he saw the three MLAs of his party sitting on the ruling side’s bench.
All the three members voted along with the NDA in favour of the no-confidence motion, which was supported by 125 MLAs and opposed by 112.
According to NDA sources, some MLAs of the JD(U)-BJP combine had not reached the House when the motion was taken up. They were, however, present during the trust vote.
Those who opposed the no-confidence motion against the Speaker included Akhtarul Iman, the lone MLA of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, which is not a part of the Mahagathbandhan.
“It is the stated policy of AIMIM to remain opposed to communal forces at all costs. I took a stand in line with the policy,” Iman told PTI.
Election of the new Speaker is now likely to take place on Tuesday, as the day’s proceedings were adjourned after the trust vote, which concluded late in the afternoon, with no breaks in between.
The government secures 129 votes amid opposition walkout in the state assembly.
Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said he always considered Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to be a father figure, and wondered what forced him to ditch the ‘Mahagathbandhan' and return to the BJP-led NDA.
Taking part in the debate on the confidence motion moved by the Kumar-led NDA government in the assembly, Yadav also taunted his ex-boss for having been sworn in "for a record ninth time, and also for the third time within a five-year term, something which has no precedent".
“I always considered Nitish Kumar as 'Dashrath'. I don't know what reasons forced him to ditch the ‘Mahagathbandhan',” the former deputy CM said.
“The BJP was scared of the 'Mahagathbandhan' government in Bihar...Can Prime Minister Narendra Modi guarantee that Nitish Kumar will not do another volte-face?” he said. PTI
New Delhi: Bihar Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary was removed from the post after no-confidence motion against him was cleared by the majority vote.
About 125 members of the House voted against the incumbent Speaker. IANS
Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which has lost power in Bihar, on Monday received a jolt inside the Bihar assembly where at least three of its members sat on the ruling party benches.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav raised a point of order, taking objection to party MLAs Chetan Anand, Neelam Devi and Prahlad Yadav sitting among members of the ruling NDA, ahead of voting on a no-confidence motion against Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary.
However, no ruling was given on the point of order by Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari, who was in the Chair. PTI
BJP MLA Nandkishore Yadav moves no-confidence motion against Bihar Assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary. PTI
Patna: Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar on Monday asserted that rule of law was the "top priority" of the Nitish Kumar government in the state.
The governor made the averment in his customary address to members of both Houses of the state legislature, on the inaugural day of the budget session.
"Rule of law prevails in the state.....that is the top priority of the government. To improve law and order strength of (police) force has been increased", said Arlekar. PTI
The Bihar Assembly Session began in Patna on Monday.
Patna: Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) exuded confidence that the party's president will win the trust vote during the crucial floor test scheduled on Monday, two weeks after he ditched its alliance with the RJD and formed a government with the BJP. ANI
Patna: Of the four missing JD(U) MLAs, who did not attend the JD(U) meetings ahead of the floor test on Monday, two have been traced and have said that they will be taking part in the floor test.
Sudarshan Kumar, the MLA from Barbigha, and Dr Sanjiv Kumar, MLA from Parbatta, were traced by JD(U) and both were on their way to Patna. Two other MLAs -- Bima Bharti and Dilip Rai -- continued to be missing. IANS
Patna: The BJP, which is back in power in Bihar after a recent realignment with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Monday exuded confidence that the new government will easily sail through the trust vote.
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