Bihar Floor Test HIGHLIGHTS: Nitish Kumar wins trust vote in Bihar Assembly amid Opposition walkout, NDA secures support of 129 MLAs

Ahead of the floor test in Bihar, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar weeks after he left the INDIA bloc and Mahagathbandhan in the state and joined the NDA fold.

He said, “When ‘Palti Kumar’ is ruling, who knows where he will take a turn? A floor test is important. In Jharkhand, the floor test was done on February 5, and in Bihar, time was given till February 12. This is all a conspiracy…INDIA bloc is united.” (ANI)

Bihar Assembly Speaker and RJD leader Awadh Bihari Choudhary starts addressing the State Assembly ahead of the highly-anticipated floor test of the Nitish Kumar government.

Former Bihar CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi arrived at the Bihar Assembly in Patna on Monday, ahead of the floor test. His party is likely to support the NDA bloc today.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who switched over to the NDA fold two weeks ago, arrived at the state Assembly ahead of the floor test.

Heavy security has been deployed at Bihar Vidhan Sabha ahead of the floor test. Rajeev Mishra, SSP Patna says, “Security arrangements have been made in view of the assembly session today. Today is the first day of the session.”

Ahead of the floor test in Bihar. Danish Ali told ANI on Sunday, “The people of Bihar are embarrassed over the state of affairs. They are very saddened by the way Nitish Kumar made fun of them and their mandate. The pressure on his MLAs is visible. It wouldn’t surprise me if Nitish Kumar makes another of his political switchovers in the foreseeable future and return to the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).”

Before the trust vote, both, the BJP and the JD(U), huddled their MLAs at two separate hotels to watch over their flock. Meanwhile, MLAs of the RJD stayed at the Patna residence of former deputy chief minister and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nityanand Rai said that all 78 MLAs of the saffron party were staying at a hotel in Patna and would go straight to Vidhan Sabha for the trust vote. The JD(U) also got its 40 MLAs to stay at another hotel in Patna. However, the JD(U) remained skeptical over five of its MLAs missing the party meeting on Sunday, Indian Express reported.

Meanwhile, Congress remained worried on Sunday with some of its MLAs reportedly in touch with the BJP and JD(U) despite 16 of them being “herded” in Hyderabad for the past week. Three MLAs had reportedly stayed back in Bihar.

The NDA, which needs the support of 122 MLAs to smoothly sail through the trust vote, has the support of 128 MLAs.

Bihar Assembly Speaker and RJD leader Awadh Bihari Choudhary arrives at the Bihar Assembly in Patna ahead of the floor test. (ANI)

RJD MLA Bhai Virendra showed the victory sign as he arrived at the Bihar Assembly in Patna on Monday, ahead of the floor test of the NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said that “Mahagathbandhan is united”.

The budget session in Bihar will commence with the Governor’s customary address to legislature members, after which the assembly will take up the no-confidence motion against Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary before the trust vote.

Chaudhary, who belongs to Rashtriya Janata Dal, the largest constituent of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ which Nitish Kumar quit two weeks ago, has made it clear that he will not step down despite the motion moved by legislators of the NDA soon after the new government was formed, PTI reported.

Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) exuded confidence that the party’s president would win the trust vote during the crucial floor test scheduled on Monday, two weeks after he ditched its alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and formed a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

JD(U) national secretary Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, “Under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar, we will get the majority and the government will complete its tenure.”

Heavy security was deployed at the residence of the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, in Patna, ahead of the crucial floor test of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government.

Amid huddles and shifting of MLAs to secure locations in the state or beyond ahead of the trust vote, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alleged that the police personnel “wanted to enter (Tejashwi’s) residence on any pretext and orchestrate untoward incidents against party MLAs”.

JD(U) MLA Sanjeev Singh was detained in Nawada ahead of the floor test in Bihar Assembly scheduled for later today.