Bihar trust vote: BJP decides to support Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi
Confidence vote today, JD(U) declared principal opposition party
Patna/New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is set to seek a confidence vote in the state Assembly on Friday, received a boost on Thursday as the BJP issued a whip to its MLAs to vote in favour of the government, but also got a jolt as the Patna High Court ruled that four JD(U) legislators who were backing him cannot take part in the voting.
The High Court on Thursday stayed the reinstatement of four MLAs who were removed by the JD(U) for anti-party activities. The four MLAs now will not be able to participate in the vote on the floor of the House. “The court order is very clear, when a decision on their membership has been stayed, they will not be able to vote in the Assembly on Friday,” said senior lawyer and JD(U) leader P.K. Shahi.
The current strength of the Assembly is 233, and in order to remain Chief Minister Mr Manjhi needs the support of 117, but according to reports he now has the support of only 12 JD(U) MLAs, 87 from the BJP after the announcement, eight from the RJD camp, and four Independent MLAs.
On the other hand, Nitish Kumar has the support of 99 JD(U) legislators, 24 from RJD, five from Congress, one from the CPI and one Independent, that add up to 130, which is 13 above the halfway mark.
The BJP issued a whip asking its legislators to vote only in favor of the CM. Meanwhile, the JD(U), on the basis of its strength in the Assembly, got the status of the main Opposition party, replacing the BJP. The Speaker’s decision led to a protest by the BJP that has 87 MLAs in the Assembly.
“In a bid to avenge the JD(U)’s act we have decided to support the chief minister on the floor of the House, but we want to clarify that afterwards we will not get ourselves involved in the state government, nor will we stake our claim to forming the government. We will just give our support to the chief minister,” senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said.
Demanding the resignation of Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary, the BJP said the JD(U) was using its influence on him. “This is a very peculiar situation when the same party which sits in the treasury benches will also be sitting in the Opposition,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Manjhi on Thursday virtually dangled the carrot of ministerial berths to garner support from MLAs. “You all should request your MLAs that they should support me if I have not done anything wrong in thinking about the poor,” he said.