Bihar floor test: Nitish Kumar wins trust vote for NDA government

The floor test of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar concluded on Monday, with Kumar securing 129 votes in favour

Two weeks after rejoining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's government won the trust vote in a floor test (129-0) in the Bihar Assembly on Monday. Earlier during the Assembly proceedings, the Speaker of the House and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Awadh Bihari Choudhary was voted out by a 125 to 112 vote share.

At least three of the RJD's members were seated on the ruling party benches in the Bihar Parliament on Monday, giving the party—which has lost support—a shock. Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the RJD, filed a point of order to object to the sitting of party MLAs Prahlad Yadav, Neelam Devi, and Chetan Anand among the ruling NDA members.

Last month, Nitish took the oath as Bihar's chief minister for the ninth time after dumping the Mahagathbandhan and the INDIA bloc to create a new government with the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) support.

During the test, the Parliament debated a no-confidence motion moved by the NDA against Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary. Chaudhary is a member of the RJD and refused to step down after his party lost power.

Hours before the trust vote, back-to-back meetings were held by the ruling and the Opposition parties. The JD(U) had issued a three-line whip requiring all MLAs to attend the test. According to reports, JD(U) MLAs were not shifted anywhere before the floor test.

JD-U chief Nitish Kumar had, after days of speculation, resigned as the chief minister of Bihar on January 28. This was his second U-turn in less than 18 months. After severing ties with the RJD and Congress, Nitish then formed a government with the backing of the BJP and took the oath as chief minister for the ninth time.

Nitish Kumar said that he quit because the state of affairs was "not right" under the Mahagathbandhan. He said that he has been receiving suggestions from everyone, including his party workers, and he listened to all of them to come to this decision.