nitish kumar floor test, rjd, bihar floor test, bihar
RJD workers outside former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s residence, in Patna, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (PTI)
Ahead of the trust vote in Bihar on Monday, the BJP and the JD(U) kept their legislators in two separate hotels, and MLAs of the RJD stayed at the official residence of former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
BJP leader and Union Minister Nityanand Rai claimed all 78 MLAs of the saffron party were at a hotel in Patna and would go straight to Vidhan Sabha for the trust vote. The JD(U) of Nitish Kumar also got 40 of its MLAs to stay at another hotel in the state capital. However, the JD(U) remained jittery over five of its MLAs not turning up at the party meeting on Sunday.
Just when the media had started speculating about the five “missing” JD(U) MLAs, Patna police visited RJD leader Tejashwi’s residence, where all 79 RJD MLAs, as well as 16 MLAs from allies and Left parties, had stayed, to look for RJD Sheohar MLA Chetan Anand, who had not been “in touch with his family” for a day.
nitish kumar floor test, rjd, bihar floor test
Security personnel outside former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s residence where RJD MLAs are staying ahead of the floor test of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar-led government, in Patna, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (PTI Photo)
Chetan Anand’s younger brother Anshuman Anand had complained to Patliputra police that his brother had left home in the afternoon on February 10 saying he would return home in the evening but had not come back.
Pataliputra police swung into action at around 10.30 pm, reaching Tejashwi’s residence where Chetan was present. Chetan told the police he had stayed with his fellow legislators from the RJD voluntarily. The police returned as Chetan stayed back for Monday’s trust vote. Later, a video clip also showed Chetan Anand playing cricket at Tejashwi’s residence in a tracksuit.
Former Bihar minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain justified the midnight police action. “If someone complains that his family member has been missing, the police need to act,” said Hussain.
RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav said: “How can the RJD holding meetings with its MLAs and keeping them in one place be illegal? All other parties did the same. The police did so on half-information that might not have gone well with the police. The government looks uncertain about proving its majority”.
Meanwhile, there had been no word on five “missing” JD(U) MLAs until late on Sunday.
The NDA which needs the support of 122 MLAs to sail through the trust vote has the support of 128 MLAs, including four legislators of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and an Independent.
Meanwhile, Congress continued to remain worried with some of its MLAs reportedly in touch with the BJP and JD(U) despite 16 of them being “herded” in Hyderabad for a week. Three MLAs had stayed back in Bihar.
The House proceedings will start at 11 am with Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar addressing the joint session of the legislature at the start of the Budget Session. It will be followed by the House taking up a no-confidence motion against Speaker and RJD leader Awadh Bihari Choudhary.
If Choudhary does not resign before taking voting, the numbers game would become evident during the no-confidence against the Speaker as it would show if Nitish Kumar has the support of 122 MLAs.
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