Manjhi confident of passing floor test in Bihar Assembly

Ousted Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today claimed to have gained the vote of confidence in the Bihar Assembly, ahead of the floor test on Friday.

"You will see on February 20, we will secure the vote of confidence," Manjhi told mediapersons in Patna.

"We have the support of all MLAs," he said when asked if he has the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators.

Meanwhile, JD (U) chief Sharad Yadav accused Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of 'complicating' what he termed was a simple issue, accusing the latter of orchestrating the crisis in the state for political gains.

"Nobody could have thought that the Government of India and the Bihar Governor could have complicated such a simple issue. We told the Governor that we have a majority in the state assembly with 130 MLAs backing us. We also asked him to ask Jitan Ram Manji to conduct a floor test of the House within 48 hours. But due to political gains, he has put Bihar in an unstable situation," Yadav told ANI in New Delhi.

Yadav also denied accusations by the BJP with regards to Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary.

"The Speaker has to work according to the law. What would the BJP's Speaker do in such a situation?" asked the JD (U) chief.

Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Nand Kishore Yadav, had earlier in the day accused Choudhary of working in favour of JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar.

However, the BJP stopped short of pledging support to Manjhi.

This move comes after the JD (U) chief last night suspended seven ministers loyal to Manjhi for allegedly acting in violation of party principles.