Nitish wins trust vote after breaking the trust earned two years ago

The NDA firmly ensconced itself in the saddle in Patna on Friday, comfortably sailing through the trust vote in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The Nitish Kumar-led government, comprising JD(U), BJP, LJP, RLSP and HAM, got the support of 131 MLAs, way past the magic number of 122 in the 243 member House. The RJD-led Opposition polled 108.

No cross-voting took place as no MLA of either the treasury or the Opposition camp defied the line taken by his/her party. That put a lid on claims of cross-voting that were being made by both sides. The RJD did request the Speaker to order secret ballot, hoping that some JD(U) MLAs will vote against the NDA if there vote could remain hidden. However, the request was turned down.

The Speaker first called for a voice vote, which proved to be inconclusive because the NDA government was both cheered  and booed  with equal gusto. A division of votes was then ordered and the result was conclusively in NDA's favour. Following the result, the RJD walked out of the House.

War of words

The period ahead of the trust vote was marked by a sharp attack on Kumar by his former deputy and leader of the RJD in the assembly Tejashwi Yadav. Speaking outside the House before the beginning of the proceedings, the RJD scion said that not the RJD but the people of Bihar had been betrayed. Inside the House, just before the vote began, he said that democracy was murdered in Bihar and that nobody will trust Kumar anymore.

Calling Kumar “ranchhor” (deserter), the former deputy CM accused Kumar of wasting 4 years of the state only for making his image. He said if Kumar had real courage, he should have sacked him but the CM was scared. Yadav said RJD had saved Kumar's honour by getting a historic mandate for the erstwhile Grand Alliance. He also alleged that Kumar had planned to tie up with the BJP much earlier and had tried to corner him only to join the BJP.

Taking a dig at Kumar, the BJP and the RSS, Yadav said the JD(U) chief exploited Mahatma Gandhi's name and then went ahead and joined the supporters of Gandhi's killers.

BJP leader and newly sworn-in Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi caused quite a flutter in the Opposition benches with his statement that the Grand Alliance had got the mandate for development and not for acquiring benami property. When it was Kumar's turn to speak, he took off from where Modi left, saying the Grand Alliance had got the mandate for development but RJD's arrogance broke the alliance.

He said it was the JD(U) that took the Congress's tally from 20 to 40 and yet his party did not receive co-operation from the Congress. In an assertion that is likely to be remembered for a long time, Kumar justified his move from the Grand Alliance to the NDA by saying that secularism was not meant to be used for hiding corruption. The vote was held soon thereafter and the NDA won.

Over to the court

Earlier in the day, the Patna High Court agreed to hear a petition filed by RJD, challenging the Bihar Governor's decision to invite Kumar to form the government, following his dramatic resignation as CM of the Grand Alliance government. The plea, filed by RJD MLA Saroj Yadav, mentioned that being the single largest party in the Assembly, it was the RJD whom the Governor should have invited first to explore options to form the government.

The petitioners had requested for an early hearing, before the trust vote, but the court ordered the matter to be listed for Monday. Arguing against the petition, Additional Solicitor General SD Sanjay and Principal Additional Advocate General Lalit Kishore said the petition was “frivolous”, as it had been served only on the Union government and not on the Election Commission of India, Governor’s office and the state government.

With the RJD challenging the Governor's decision in court, the case has now taken a turn similar to the series of events that followed the assembly elections in Bihar in 2000. The polls had thrown up a hung assembly and it came upon the then Governor VC Pande to explore the process of government formation with the contesting political parties.

With 124 MLAs in the 324-member House, the RJD was then too the single largest party, but the Governor hastily invited the NDA, led by Nitish Kumar, first. Kumar then took oath as chief minister but the RJD and Congress lodged a strong protest with President KR Narayanan against the Governor's decision.

Even as Narayanan showed reluctance in endorsing Pande's decision to invite the NDA, Kumar eventually stepped down himself even before the floor test, claiming that he had been unable to muster the required numbers. An RJD-Congress government was then sworn in, with Lalu's wife Rabri Devi as the chief minister.

This shows that there is a precedence of a Governor having shown haste in inviting Nitish Kumar to form the government with BJP, with the latter being in power at the Centre too. However, if that landmark year is anything to go by, the NDA government better watch out for the Patna High Court's judgment, whenever it comes.