Back as Bihar Chief Minister after a 14-hour gap, Nitish Kumar has sought trust vote in the Assembly this morning amid protests by Lalu Yadav’s RJD, now the chief opposition party. As Leader of Opposition, Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav, 28, is speaking first targeting Mr Kumar and his new partner the BJP for what he has called an “opportunistic alliance” built in a “political conspiracy.” The RJD has appealed for a -conscience vote,” a secret ballot in which legislators are not bound by orders to vote for their party.
This morning the RJD has moved court challenging the appointment of Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister. The court has admitted the petition but refused to stop the trust vote, saying it would hear the case on Monday.
Nitish Kumar needs 122 votes to win today’s trust vote. The Chief Minister and his new partner the BJP together have 124 legislators in the 243-member assembly. They claim to have the support of 132, including smaller parties and Independents and sources said Mr Kumar is confident he will sail through.
After Tejashwi Yadav, leaders of other political parties will speak, with Nitish Kumar wrapping up the discussion and seeking a vote of confidence. Speaker Vijay Choudhury will then call for a voice vote or a head count or physical voting on slips of paper or the push of a button, depending on the situation in the House them.
Former ally Lalu Yadav’s confidence that a section of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United legislators are upset with his decision to partner with the BJP and so will defy a party whip and vote against the Chief Minister, seemed to have ebbed by Thursday evening.
After a meeting of the RJD and the Congress, the two allies dumped by Nitish Kumar this week, the RJD’s Raghuvansh Prasad Yadav said they want lawmakers to be able to vote according to their conscience. Lalu Yadav has accused Nitish Kumar of “betraying Bihar,” saying their alliance got a massive mandate in the assembly elections on an anti-BJP plank and so Mr Kumar’s decision to partner ith the BJP is unethical.
On Wednesday, hours after Lalu Yadav said his son Tejashwi would not resign over corruption charges, Nitish Kumar met the Bihar Governor and resigned as Chief Minister ending his two-year-old alliance with the RJD and Congress.
The BJP was waiting with an offer of support and they met the Governor the same night to stake claim to form government. Nitish Kumar took oath for the sixth time yesterday as Chief Minister and the BJP’s Sushil Modi was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister, a post he has held twice before.
“I took the decision to form the new government in the interest of Bihar… I am committed to the development of Bihar,” Mr Kumar told reporters shortly after taking oath. “I am confident that the pace of progress of the state will gain fresh momentum with assistance from the Centre.”
Only the chief minister and his deputy took oath on Thursday. The rest of the ministers will be sworn in after today’s trust vote.
Nitish Kumar had ended his 17-year alliance with the BJP in 2013 over its decision to name Narendra Modi its Prime Ministerial candidate. In 2015 he partnered with the Congress and Lalu Yadav to win the assembly elections. But in recent months, he had broken ranks with the opposition to support several initiatives of PM Modi, including demonetisation and the candidacy of Ram Nath Kovind for the post of the President.