Nitish Kumar's govt to face trust vote today

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar is set to face a trust vote in the state legislature here today.

The ruling party, JD(U), has 118 legislators in the 243-strong assembly where the magic figure is 122.

According to television reports, four of the assembly's six independent legislators have reportedly confirmed their support to the JD(U).

The JD(U) terminated its alliance with the BJP on June 16 over elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP's poll campaign committee chief ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has 91 legislators in the assembly.

Addressing a press conference here, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said that the developments in the last six months had made things difficult for them to work together with the BJP.

"We were in the NDA for 17 years and we had a national agenda that was formed with Atalji and Advaniji. We have tried to stick to the framework of the NDA but for the past 6-7 months situation has changed," he said.

"Any alliance runs by friendship and trust - we tried our best to run the alliance," he added.