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minister, who said that though a voice vote had clearly shown the support of the majority, the count would leave no room for any confusion.
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favor of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same. The lone MLA of AIMIM, Akhtarul Iman, whose party is not a part of the ruling alliance, also took part in the exercise and supported the confidence motion.
“We (RJD and JDU) have taken the pledge to work together for the development of Bihar. Leaders from across the country called me and congratulated me on this decision and I urged all of them to fight together in the 2024 elections,” said JD(U) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the assembly.
Earlier in the day, Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha announced his resignation on the floor of the House after an emotionally charged speech in which he expressed anguish over the no-confidence motion moved against him by the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government. Sinha, who belongs to the BJP which now stands stripped of power in the state, left the House in turmoil.
He made a hasty exit from the House, and MLAs of the BJP, almost all of whom were wearing saffron scarves and raising slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and Jai Shri Ram’, followed suit. Earlier, Sinha spoke for nearly 20 minutes, claiming that after the sudden change of government he wanted to resign on his own but decided otherwise after he learned that a no-confidence motion had been moved.
Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was accused of having lost “political credibility” by his former deputy and senior BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad. Prasad made the remark while taking part in a debate on the motion of confidence brought by the new ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government.
The BJP leader mocked Kumar’s “personal ambition to become the prime minister despite not having the ability to become the chief minister on his own steam”. “Personal ambition caused him to ditch BJP in 2013 and again nine years later,” said the BJP leader who also raked up sidelining of leaders like George Fernandes and Sharad Yadav by Kumar to make his point, drawing angry response from JD(U) members.
“He remains the CM though his deputy keeps changing. He is like a batsman who causes others to get run out to remain on the pitch. RJD should remember that its president Lalu Prasad had compared him to a snake that sheds its skin,” alleged the BJP leader. Prasad also claimed that “jungle raj” has returned to Bihar where crime rate has risen ever since RJD clawed its way back to power and wondered whether allegations of corruption against the party’s top leaders “do not matter anymore”.
Nitish, who ended his alliance with the NDA in Bihar and formed a government with the grand alliance earlier this month, faced a floor test to prove his majority in the assembly.
However, hours before the floor test, the CBI conducted raids across 15 locations in Bihar linked to RJD MPs and MLCs. The central probe agency is conducting raids in connection with the land-for-jobs scam in Bihar that allegedly took place during the tenure of party supremo Lalu Prasad.
The search operation was carried out at the premises of several senior leaders of the RJD including Sunil Singh, Ashfaque Karim, Faiyaz Ahmad and former MLC Subodh Rai, they said. The CBI has named the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, in addition to 12 people who were given jobs in Railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hajipur in 2008-09 in the case, the officials said.
The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ has the support of 165 MLAs from the JD(U), Congress, RJD and left parties in Bihar.
(with inputs from PTI)
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