Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) and the BJP alliance in Bihar will face a trust vote in the state assembly today. The combine, which has a strength of 128 in the 243-member assembly is expected to have a smooth sail in the crucial floor test. The majority mark in the Bihar assembly stands at 122.
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Ahead of the floor test, an important meeting was called on Sunday at the house of JD(U) leader and Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary. At the meeting, JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he is confident of winning the trust vote. He also advised all his party MLAs to be present in the House during the floor test and keep from indulging in any incidents that could disrupt the proceedings in the assembly.
Here are the top 10 latest developments in this big story:
At Sunday’s meeting at Vijay Kumar Chaudhary’s house, a few JD(U) MLAs were absent. However, the Bihar Minister attributed the absence to “unavoidable circumstances” about which they had given “prior information”. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary also emphasised that the absentees would be present in the assembly during the trust vote today. News agency PTI, citing sources, said that the absent JD(U) MLAs were Dilip Roy, Bimar Bharti and Sudharshan Kumar Singh.
The NDA alliance in Bihar began their preparation on Saturday (February 10) with lunch at Minister Shrawan Kumar’s residence. Interestingly, many legislators were missing at the event. Furthermore, BJP MLAs, who were in Bodh Gaya to attend a two-day workshop, were brought back to Bihar’s capital Patna late on Sunday evening. Citing sources, PTI reported that a couple of MLAs had skipped the workshop.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLAs have been camping at Tejashwi Yadav’s residence since Saturday night. Initially, only RJD members were spotted entering the residence, but later Left allies of the former Mahagathbandhan in Bihar also joined. RJD MP Manoj Jha said the MLAs have decided to stay together. The Mahagathbandhan members are expected to reach the state assembly together in a show of solidarity.
Several videos have emerged wherein Mahagathbandhan members were seen having a bonfire and enjoying music, and even playing cricket during their ‘stay over’ at Tejashwi Yadav’s residence. A video showed one MLA playing a guitar sitting beside Tejashwi Yadav as others joined to sing songs. Later, another video emerged showing RJD leader Pratap Yadav, elder brother of Tejashwi, playing cricket with his party MLAs.
Drama unfolded late on Sunday night when police briefly visited Tejashwi Yadav’s residence. It is believed that a complaint was filed with Patna Police regarding RJD MLA Chetan Anand claiming to have been kidnapped and put under house arrest at the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister’s house. It is believed Chetan Anand’s younger brother lodged the complaint. However, after the police arrived, Chetan Anand told them he had gone there on his own will and later left Tejashwi Yadav’s residence.
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