Nitish Kumar ‘confident’ of winning Bihar floor test today with renewed NDA alliance

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.

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.

The JD(U) has 45 MLAs, excluding Nitish Kumar who is a member of the legislative council. The BJP, ally of the JD(U) in the NDA has 78 MLAs. Besides, the NDA alliance has four Hindustani Awam Morcha MLAs by ex-Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. Additionally, there is Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh, who is also a minister and had turned up at the JD(U) legislative party meeting ahead of the floor test.

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 said their absence was due to “unavoidable circumstances” about which they had given “prior information”, and stressed that they would be present in the assembly during the trust vote today.

The NDA alliance in Bihar began their preparation on Saturday (February 10) with lunch at Minister Shrawan Kumar’s residence wherein many legislators were missing. BJP MLAs, who were in Bodh Gaya to attend a two-day workshop, were brought back to Patna on Sunday, with news agency PTI reporting that a couple of MLAs had skipped the same.

RJD MLAs, along with their Left allies have been camping at former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav’s residence since Saturday night. The Mahagathbandhan members are expected to reach the state assembly today 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.

Patna Police briefly visited Tejashwi Yadav’s residence late on Sunday night, following a complaint regarding RJD MLA Chetan Anand claiming to have been kidnapped and put under house arrest at the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister’s house. However, after the police arrived, Chetan Anand told them he had gone there on his own will and later left Tejashwi Yadav’s residence. India Today has now learnt that Chetan Anand is likely to abstain from voting in the floor test today.

It is believed Chetan Anand’s younger brother lodged the complaint with Patna Police. Notably, Chetan Anand is the son of former MP and gangster-politician Anand Mohan. Later, the RJD responded to the incident on X and alleged that Nitish Kumar sent police to Tejashwi Yadav’s residence, fearing defeat in the trust vote.

There was a sudden scare for the Nitish Kumar-led NDA alliance that developed overnight as five MLAs – three JD(U) and two BJP – went missing. However, the three JD(U) MLAs Manoj Yadav, Sudarshan Kumar and Sanjeev have now been contacted, India Today has learnt. The two BJP MLAs, meanwhile, are expected to be present at the assembly during the floor test.

Congress MLAs were stationed in Telangana’s capital Hyderabad for a week amid fears of poaching, and returned to Patna on Sunday. The party has as many as 19 MLAs, all of whom later reached Tejashwi Yadav’s residence at 5, Deshratna Marg, the bungalow alloted to the RJD leader when he was the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.

As it stands, Bihar Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari belongs to the JD(U) while Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary belongs to the RJD, which lost power as a result of Nitish Kumar’s latest flip-over to the BJP-led NDA. A no-confidence motion against the Speaker will be taken up today at the assembly.

The Mahagathbandhan alliance comprises RJD, Congress, and Left allies, which sum up to 114 MLAs. Besides, there is one member of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, who has not revealed his inclination yet.