THREE RJD MLAs crossed over to the NDA while five absent JD(U) MLAs turned up with just a few minutes to go for voting, helping Chief Minister Nitish Kumar win the trust vote easily on Monday with 129 votes in its favour. There was no vote against, as the Opposition walked out before the voting.
The NDA’s tally stood at 130, if the Deputy Speaker’s vote was included. In the House of 243, simple majority is 122. Before the vote, the NDA claimed it had 128 MLAs with it, and the Mahagathbandhan cited the support of 114.
In a speech that sought to make up for the lack of numbers, Tejashwi Yadav led the attack from the Opposition side. He said the fact that the ruling alliance had to make three RJD MLAs “cross over” to the NDA to prove its majority was a “moral victory” for the party.
The government of Nitish Kumar was seen as jittery till just before the trust vote, as the no-confidence motion against Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary of the RJD that preceded it saw five JD(U) MLAs absent. But then, three RJD MLAs – Prahlad Yadav, Neelam Devi and Chetan Anand — crossed over to the Treasury Benches, amidst loud cheers from NDA legislators.
Choudhary was eventually voted out, with 125 MLAs of the NDA against, and 112 of the Mahagathbandhan in his favour, including the lone AIMIM MLA.
With this vote showing that the Nitish government was set to win his trust vote, four of the five missing JD(U) MLAs turned up; the only exception was Dilip Rai.
Having voted as per the party whip, the four JD(U) MLAs escaped disqualification from the House. The three RJD legislators who changed sides, however, may face disqualification proceedings.
Replying to Tejashwi’s charge on the NDA wooing RJD MLAs, senior BJP leader and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said it was the RJD that had tried to “influence its (the BJP’s) five MLAs”. “We will bring them to book,” he said, “but you (the RJD) tried to hold them back from attending the House.” He did not identify who these MLAs were.
The JD(U) earlier alleged that the RJD had tried to influence six of its MLAs.
In veiled barbs against Nitish, Tejashwi said: “I congratulate Nitish Kumar for taking oath as CM for a record ninth time, including three times in his current ongoing term. But I want to know what your constraints were… You said, ‘Yahan man nahin lag raha tha (You were not comfortable with us)’. But were we with you to just do a song and dance for you?”
Tejashwi claimed that he was against forming a government with Nitish in 2022 – when the JD(U) leader came over to the Mahagathbandhan after quitting the NDA – and wanted at best to lend outside support.
“But there was pressure from national leaders, more so because you announced you would fight Narendra Modi. You led the campaign (against the BJP), and if the BJP was very worried about any state, it was Bihar. It was because of our coming together and your presence. But now that you are with them, your bhatija (nephew, referring to himself) will take up the job. We have Congress and Left parties with us,” the RJD leader said.
Drawing on the Ramayana, Tejashwi added that he still saw Nitish as his Dashrath (or father figure), and it was on the JD(U) chief to identify his Kaikeyi (the one misleading him). Continuing in the same vein, he added: “I am not taking exile as Dashrath gave to Lord Ram, but I am going to the people.”
Nitish, who listened attentively to his former deputy, accused RJD leaders of corruption. “Lakhon-laakh kamaa rahe the (They were minting lakhs of rupees). I will institute a probe into it,” he said.
The CM claimed that another reason for his disenchantment with the INDIA bloc was the realisation that the RJD may “betray” him. “I got to learn that (RJD supremo) Lalu Prasad along with the Congress had started working against me. Now, I am back to my old alliance and will stay here.”
Samrat Choudhary also referred to the corruption charges against Lalu and family, including Tejashwi, asking the latter how he had amassed so much wealth at his age. “I advise you not to blame the CBI. It was during your alliance government at the Centre that the CBI arrested Lalu Prasad in the fodder cases.”