JD(U) wins trust vote; Cong MLAs also support Nitish

Gets 126 votes in favour, while RJD and two independents vote against; Bihar CM says 'no party should think they can form a govt on their own'

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today used the occasion of a trust vote in the Bihar assembly to launch a full frontal attack on his former partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leader, Narendra Modi. He did not spare even the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological patron of the BJP, in his attack.

Kumar today passed the floor test in the assembly with flying colours as the Congress backed the motion, indicating new political alignments on the horizon. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), which has 118 MLAs, needed 122 votes to win the trust and he got through with 126.

Four Congress MLAs, one from the Communist Party of India and four independents voted for the JD(U) government. All 91 MLAs of the BJP and the lone member of the Lok Janshakti Party boycotted the vote. The Rashtriya Janata Dal’s 22 legislators and two independents voted against the government. Kumar, later, thanked the Congress for its support. "There has been no discussion about the future. Today, we came together to save secularism and democracy in the country," Kumar told reporters after the vote.

JD(U) broke its 17-year alliance with the BJP on Sunday over Gujarat chief minister Modi’s elevation within the saffron party.

Asked about the possible outcome of his decision to part with the BJP, he said: "I do not run the government on a basis of a profit and loss statement. I do politics for the country and the state and on the basis of my principles... I am not a contender for any post. Today, I am a chief minister. It’s possible that tomorrow I may lose my post but I will not regret my decision. It was a necessary step, as continuing with the alliance was to cheat ourself."

Before the floor test, Kumar had launched an unfettered attack on Modi without naming him and questioned his development claims. "Taking a state that is already doing well and improving, is that more remarkable than improving an underdeveloped and poor state? Our model, the Bihar model, is truly inclusive and this is what the country needs today. We leave nobody behind," he said.

The chief minister also played down the BJP plans to project Modi as a backward caste leader. "Just being from a backward caste does not do the work. A backward leader has to fight for the marginalised people. Hindutva does not matter there. Corporate accolades cannot make someone a backward caste leader."   

Kumar further accused the BJP of taking the road of despotism and said it had betrayed its elders. "There is a new era in the BJP and we do not agree with that. They want to impose their new leadership on us. It’s not democracy, it is despotism. They accuse us that we have betrayed them, but it is they who betrayed their own elder. We all know what they did with Advani?"

He added that no party should have “misconceptions that they can form a government on their own. This is an era of alliances... Things become clearer, when RSS stated today that they will continue on the path of Hindutva and the efforts to take everyone along was futile. Therefore, we are very happy to take the decision."