No ‘Khela’ in Bihar

Patna/New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led government secured the magic number during the trust vote in the Assembly on Monday, defeating the Mahagathbandhan, which was hoping for some ‘Khela’ (play) after some JD(U) MLAs skipped their party meeting a day ago. The NDA government won the floor test easily with 129 votes in favour while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) staged a walkout from the Assembly.

In the absence of the Opposition, Kumar first proved his majority by voice vote but later insisted on manual voting and went on to win the vote of confidence with 129 votes in favour against none in opposition to his government.

At least five RJD MLAs defected and voted for Nitish Kumar. The floor test comes two weeks after Nitish decided that the Janata Dal (United) will quit the INDIA alliance and join hands once again with the Bharatiya Janata Party. JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar’s victory in the Bihar Assembly floor test saw a huge political commotion, a war of words and name-calling.

Kumar accused Tejashwi Yadav’s party of corruption, saying “they were minting money”, while the RJD leader took potshots at Nitish Kumar for taking oath as Chief Minister three times in a single term.

Kumar lashed out at Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family – even though he had been in alliance with them until just two weeks ago. Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had 15 years to work for the state, he claimed, “before I was elected in 2005”. “The contrast is visible,” he said.

Before the Opposition walked out, Tejashwi spoke in the Assembly and hit out at Nitish. What is the guarantee he won’t swap sides again, the former deputy chief minister asked, adding: “Can PM Modi guarantee that Nitish won’t switch camps again?”

“When you (Nitish) came out of Raj Bhavan after resigning, you said ‘mann nhi lag raha tha’… hum log nachne gaane ke liye thode hai (you said you weren’t ‘enjoying it’… are we there to entertain you)? We were there to support you,” he said. “… but he took oath thrice in a single term. This is something we never saw before.” All the MLAs from the RJD, Congress and Left Front walked out of the Assembly.