JD(U), BJP hold hectic discussions, voice confidence ahead of Bihar floor test

As Bihar’s government faces a crucial floor test in the state legislative assembly on Monday, both the JD(U) and the BJP—the two primary constituents of the alliance that has claimed majority—held crucial meetings of their MLAs on Sunday, and said that they were confident that the new alliance would sail through.

At the JD(U) meeting, however, which chief minister Nitish Kumar addressed, there were some murmurs of concern with three legislators absent, even though senior party leaders said that they were in touch with them and all their members were accounted for.

The floor test has been necessitated after chief minister Nitish Kumar walked out of the Mahagatbandhan alliance that included the Congress, RJD and the Left on January 28, and instead joined hands with the BJP. Kumar took oath as chief minister of Bihar for the ninth time on January 28, with Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha as his deputy chief ministers. The change in government brought the need for a floor test, which has been scheduled for February 12. The JD(U) ostensibly has 45 MLAs of 243 members in the Bihar assembly; BJP has 79 MLAs. Alliance partner HAM-S has four MLAs and with support of one independent, the NDA has 128 MLAs. The opposition alliance has 115 which includes 79 of the RJD, 19 of the Congress, and 16 of the Left and one of AIMIM.

During the JD(U) meeting at the house of minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, senior leaders admitted that there were three MLAs who did not attend the meeting — Rupauli MLA and former minister Bima Bharti, Sursand MLA Dilip Ray who was earlier with the RJD and Barbigha MLA Sudarshan Kumar. At least six MLAs had earlier skipped another lunch meeting at minister Shravan Kumar’s house on Saturday.

Choudhary however downplayed the absence of the three MLAs and said they had kept the party informed about their absence. “We are assured of proving our majority. Two-three MLAs did not come but they had informed the party. All of them would be here by morning. Our (NDA) strength is 128 and we will prove it,” he said, speaking to reporters after the meeting.

The JD (U) minister said that chief minister Nitish Kumar had assured the legislators of majority, and told them there was no reason to worry in a meeting that lasted over an hour and a half.

Earlier, Choudhary said, the assembly would see the governor’s address and then a proposal to remove the speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary from the RJD. “As per the rules, the speaker will ask how many support the proposal to remove him. If 38 or more MLAs support the proposal, it gets accepted and then the speaker vacates his chair till the proposal is defeated. The deputy speaker takes over the chair and takes up the proposal to remove the speaker after which the trust vote will be taken up,” Choudhary said.

The run-up to the trust vote has seen frantic political action across party lines over the past few days, with political parties alleging that they have the numbers, and the other side doesn’t. While Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM(S) has bargained hard for another ministerial berth, the RJD has kept its MLAs at former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s home for two days, while the Congress herded 16 of its 19 MLAs to Hyderabad, only bringing them back on Sunday.

JD-U MLA Gopal Mandal, who skipped Saturday’s lunch said, “Two to three MLAs were not present today but they are in touch with us.”

The BJP’s MLAs who were in a two-day training camp at Bodh Gaya returned to Patna on Sunday and convened at the residence of deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Simha. While Amit Shah was expected to speak to the legislators virtually, that did not take place, and legislators were spoken to by the party’s Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde.

A senior party leader said that the two-day camp was meant to lay emphasis on the importance of maintaining a connection with voters. “It is once in a year affair and was held ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, so that NDA wins all all the 40 parliamentary seats in the state,” said a BJP legislator.

On the subject of the floor test, deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, “They (RJD) are in fear. They know that their MLAs can leave them at any time because they are fed up with dynastic and corrupt politics.”

“There is nothing to fear. The big question is why are (RJD) MLAs locked inside the house of former deputy CM (Tejashwi Yadav)? We will win,” said BJP MP Ravishankar Prasad.

HAM-S leader and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi also held a meeting of his party’s legislators on Sunday and said, “Everybody is together in NDA. Today, everybody holds PM Modi’s leadership in high regard and all MLAs will be present tomorrow,” Manjhi said.

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