The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government in Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar won the trust vote in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday as the opposition BJP staged a walk out. Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour 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. The election for Assembly Speaker will take place on August 26, announced Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari.
Earlier, in his speech during the debate on the motion of confidence, Kumar launched a scathing attack on the BJP saying the central government was taking credit even for the state government schemes.
“In 2017, when I demanded central status for Patna University, no one paid attention to it. Now you (Central govt) will do the same to advertise your work. They have control over social media and press. Everyone is discussing only Centre’s work,” he said.
Kumar made indirect references to rebellion by LJP’s Chirag Paswan, allegedly at BJP’s behest, and attempts to cause a split in JD(U) through his former protege RCP Singh.
The chief minister called upon the opposition parties to stand united ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “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. Is there any work being done by Delhi (Centre)? Only advertisement is being done,” he added.
Kumar. However, asserted that he had “no personal ambitions”, rejecting the BJP’s charge that his latest volt-face was aimed at becoming the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition camp.
The JD(U) chief walked out of the National Democratic Alliance and joined hands with the RJD earlier this month. He was sworn in as the Bihar chief minister for the eighth time on August 10 while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took oath as his deputy.
On August 16, Kumar expanded his cabinet by inducting 31 new ministers, including a huge contingent of 16 from key ally RJD, taking care to give due representation to all sections of society, including minorities.
Some 11 members of the council of ministers are from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), two from Congress and one from ex-CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM, besides an Independent.
The ‘Mahagathbandhan’, which comprises the chief minister’s JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M), has a combined strength of more than 160 in the 243-strong House.
