Nitish Kumar wins trust vote in Bihar Assembly as BJP stages walkout

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, August 24

Bihar’s Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan government today easily won the floor test amid a walkout by opposition BJP—JD-U’s former ally. The day that began with CBI raids in connection with land-for-job scam cases in locations like Delhi, Patna, Katihar and Madhubani and also Haryana’s Gurugram, saw heated exchanges in the Assembly over the issue, with Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav slamming the BJP and calling the agencies its ‘jamais’.  

Kumar also took on the BJP, dismissing all allegations levelled against him regarding his “flip-flops”, returning to the RJD fold and ambitions to become the Prime Minister, saying that his only ambition was to work for Bihar.

Speaking during the debate on the motion of confidence, the JD-U supremo said he did not want to become the CM when he re-joined the RJD and the grand alliance (which he earlier quit in 2017 to re-join the NDA).

Taking an aim at the BJP’s current leadership, Kumar underscored the contrast with the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, saying that they treated him with respect. “I snapped ties with BJP in 2013 in protest against them being side-lined,” he was quoted as saying.

Kumar also asked the BJP to not just remember the 2020 Assembly polls but also elections in which JD-U won more seats than it. Kumar also said his requests for betterment of Bihar, like central status for Patna University, were not accepted by the BJP-led Centre. Without mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi by name, he said “the current dispensation does little except publicity (prachar prasar)”.

With the support of 165 MLAs, the grand alliance easily won the trust vote in the 243-member Assembly.

Ahead of the floor test, the CBI conducted simultaneous raids on the premises of RJD MPs Ashfaque Karim and Faiyaz Ahmad and MLC Sunil Singh. Searches were also carried out at the residence of former RJD MLC Subodh Rai and other leaders, according to reports. 

Sources said the raids were being conducted in connection with the land-for-jobs scam in the railways during the tenure of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav as Union minister. The CBI also raided a mall in Gurgaon, which media reports suggested was owned by Tejashwi, who expressed dismay saying: “These media outlets should do some research. It belongs to someone based in Haryana, and was inaugurated by a BJP MP.”

Taking part in a debate, Yadav called the ED, the CBI and the IT departments “three jamaai” (sons in-law) “which the BJP sends to states where it is not in power.”

He also accused BJP of trying to break JD-U to wipe out socialist ideology. “My father Lalu Prasad, mother Rabri Devi, my sisters and I are all paying the price for our commitment to socialism. The CM and I have the same ideology. You (BJP) cannot reap what we socialists have sown,” said Yadav.

Praising Kumar for taking a “courageous decision”, Yadav said he had brought a new ray of hope for the people of the country.

“You are all scared of facing 2024 polls as the united opposition in Bihar will trounce the BJP. Hence the three ‘jamaai’ are being sent,” he was quoted as saying.

BJP leaders protested each time he used the word.

Earlier, Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is from the BJP, resigned after delivering an emotional speech, expressing anguish over the no-confidence motion moved against him by the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’.

As BJP lawmakers walked out, Kumar accused them of running away. “You will only get a position in your party if you say things against me. You all must have got orders from your superior bosses,” he said.