PATNA, Feb 12 : Amid a high-voltage political drama, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday won the trust vote for his newly formed NDA government in the Assembly, while pledging not to take another “U” turn and continue with BJP..
The high-voltage political drama which had started on January 28 after the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) switched over to NDA to form a new government headed by him, ended with the new ruling alliance winning the trust vote in the Assembly.
The motion was supported by 129 legislators with not a single vote against it as the opposition parties had staged a walkout just before the voting.
The intense political drama continued for over two weeks as both ruling and opposition parties claimed to have the magic number of 122 in the 243-member Assembly.
While the ruling NDA has a strength of 128 MLAs, the opposition parties, though having the backing of 115 legislators, claimed to enjoy the support of some MLAs from the other side.
Leader of the opposition Tejaswi Prasad Yadav had claimed to engineer khela (game), but in the end nothing unusual happened.
Chief Minister Kumar, while replying to the debate on the confidence motion, outlined the circumstances that forced him to join hands with the BJP by deserting the Grand Alliance.
In the same vein, he pledged on the floor of the House not to take another “U” turn in the rest of his political career and continue to work in the interest of all sections of the society.
Kumar said that he had taken the initiative to unite all opposition parties at the national level, and convened its first meeting on June 23 last year. However, he sensed that Congress was not taking the required decision due to fears from other regional parties, Kumar pointed out.
“Even RJD chief Lalu Prasad was not working as per my desire and he was closer to Congress in INDIA alliance”, Chief Minister said adding that things were also not going in the right direction in the Grand Alliance government headed by him in Bihar. He alleged that Ministers from RJD quota in his government were indulging in corrupt practices.
Kumar alleged that RJD was attempting horse trading to woo NDA MLAs and offered huge amounts to them. Kumar said he would order an investigation into the source of the huge funds the RJD got for horse-trading.
Chief Minister virtually gave the clean chit to all BJP Ministers who worked with him earlier, saying he never got any complaint of corrupt practices against them. He ridiculed the leader of the opposition Tejaswi Prasad Yadav for taking credit for large-scale recruitments, saying it was his vision of Saat Nischay-2 (seven resolves) that facilitated huge appointments of teachers in government schools.
Kumar said his government had established the rule of law in Bihar after coming to power in 2005. During the 15 years of the RJD rule from 1990 to 2005, law and order had collapsed in Bihar, he alleged.Earlier, leader of the opposition Tejaswi Prasad Yadavridiculed Chief Minister Kumar for taking his 4th “U” turn by deserting Grand Alliance on January 28. It was a record that Kumar had taken oath nine times as CM due to his frequent “U” turns, he pointed out.
Yadav also wondered what was the guarantee that Kumar would not take another “U” turn and return to Grand Alliance. He remarked that he would not have said anything had Kumar informed him about his intention to return to NDA.
The entire opposition led by Yadav staged a walkout from the House, in protest against allegations levelled by Kumar. Later, Nitish Kumar’s government won the trust vote securing 129 votes in the absence of opposition.
It was for the first time in the political history of Bihar that almost all major parties including Congress, BJP and RJD lodged their legislators at posh hotels in Patna, Bodh Gaya and outside the state to insulate them from poaching by other side. RJD MLAs were lodged at the residence of Tejaswi Prasad Yadav. (UNI)
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