Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s chief minister, won a trust vote in the assembly on Monday, ending a rollercoaster few weeks that saw him swap allies, take oath for the ninth time, and tensions rise in the days leading up to the floor test.
The ruling coalition received 129 votes in the 243-member legislature after the Opposition walked out, with three Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) members switching allegiances and voting for the administration. In the discussion that followed the vote, Kumar’s former deputy Tejashwi Yadav criticized the CM for repeatedly changing partners, causing the Janata Dal (United) chairman to attack his past friends and blame them for the state’s impoverishment.
“There was no law and order. The RJD indulged in corrupt practices during its rule (before 2005)… I will get these probed,” Kumar said.
Yadav, who served as deputy chief minister from August 2022 to January 2024, when Kumar left the coalition and joined the BJP, accused Kumar of numerous flip-flops.
“There is a lot of talk about Modi ki guarantee. But can he (Modi) guarantee that Nitish Kumar will not take another U-turn? I respected Nitish ji and will continue to respect him. He may have some compulsions for banishing me, who he often described like his son,” he said.
The government also won a no-trust vote against speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhury, an RJD leader, with 125 votes in favour of his removal and 112 against.
The ruling alliance has 128 seats in the legislature and was anticipated to win the trust vote. However, tensions escalated on Saturday when the RJD gathered all of its legislators and two of the three coalition parties at Yadav’s home. Around the same time, three BJP MPs and two JD(U) lawmakers were silent, fueling fears that the trust vote may take a turn.
However, the voting was mostly along predicted lines.
Of the 45 JD(U) members, 44 supported the government, as did all 78 BJP members and four from the Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular). Sursand legislator Dilip Ray disobeyed the JD(U) whip and did not show up. One independent also supported the government, as did three members of the RJD — Sheohar lawmaker Chetan Anand, the son of criminal-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh, Surgarha RJD MLA Prahlad Yadav, and Neelam Devi, lawmaker from Mokama and wife of jailed strongman Anant Singh.
The trust vote followed weeks of feverish political activity in the state, which began when Kumar took over the party on December 29 and replaced Lalan Singh, fueling suspicion that he was planning his sixth changeover in the previous decade. Kumar left the Opposition Grand Alliance on January 28 to join the BJP.
Later, Harlakhi MLA Sudhanshu Shekhar of the JD(U) submitted a FIR against another of his fellow party MLA from Parbatta, Sanjiv Kumar, and the RJD’s Sunil at the Kotwali police station in Patna. In the FIR. Shekhar said that Sanjiv Kumar conspired to kidnap JD(U) MLAs Bima Bharti and Dilip Rai and promised them ₹10 crore for cross-voting.
Yadav tried to take credit for the work done by the 17-month-long Grand Alliance government.
“Nitish ji knows I was not interested in joining his government. I wanted to support him from outside. But I assure Nitish ji, if he again has a rethink and needs support, we will think over it. We made a tired CM run. We made him deliver on our job promise. We made the government carry out caste survey despite the BJP’s reluctance. But then, you made a volte face yet again without even communicating the reason to your deputy CM. You were the one who always referred to me as the next generation. What happened to all that? he asked.
Yadav also addressed former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had expressed unhappiness with the ministry allotted to his son Santosh Kumar Suman in the first week of February.
“After Nitish Kumar’s outburst against him on November 10, 2023, Manjhi ji had said the CM was being administered wrong medicine. Now, it is for you get him properly treated. If possible, take a room close to him for his well being. Without stability, there cannot be development in the state,” he said.
He also appealed to the government to continue with the job recruitment that started under the Mahagahtbandhan government. “Whatever compulsions you may have had, at least continue giving jobs to the people in the health sector. You did not want us to take credit. Why should we not take it? We made it possible,” said Yadav.
Kumar hit back soon after, saying that he had heard about corruption (in his government), which he could not tolerate.
“RJD wants to take credit, but they should know the condition of the state prior to 2005 when I took over. There was utter lawlessness, darkness and total absence of roads. My government has been working for Bihar’s development and that will continue,” Kumar said, vowing to continue with the BJP.
“…when his (Tejashwi’s) father and mother got the opportunity to serve Bihar for 15 years. I also gave him two opportunities. I was pained that when I got know that I gave you respect, you were busy making money. When the BJP was with us, they never did this kind of thing. There were also reports that lakhs were being offered to break my party. Where did the money come from? We will get everything probed,” he added.
Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary attacked the RJD for alleged corruption and said they were facing cases due to the sins of the past.
“Even reservation could not go beyond one family in the RJD and its leaders have no right to speak about marginalized sections of the society,” he said.
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Source: HT
