Easy win for Nitish govt in trust vote as 3 RJD MLAs, ‘missing’ JD(U) MLAs surface on his side

THREE RJD MLAs crossed over to the NDA while five absent JD(U) MLAs turned up with just a few minutes to go for voting, helping Chief Minister Nitish Kumar win the trust vote easily on Monday with 129 votes in its favour. There was no vote against, as the Opposition walked out before the voting.

The NDA’s tally stood at 130, if the Deputy Speaker’s vote was included. In the House of 243, simple majority is 122. Before the vote, the NDA claimed it had 128 MLAs with it, and the Mahagathbandhan cited the support of 114.

In a speech that sought to make up for the lack of numbers, Tejashwi Yadav led the attack from the Opposition side. He said the fact that the ruling alliance had to make three RJD MLAs “cross over” to the NDA to prove its majority was a “moral victory” for the party.

The government of Nitish Kumar was seen as jittery till just before the trust vote, as the no-confidence motion against Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary of the RJD that preceded it saw five JD(U) MLAs absent. But then, three RJD MLAs – Prahlad Yadav, Neelam Devi and Chetan Anand — crossed over to the Treasury Benches, amidst loud cheers from NDA legislators.

Choudhary was eventually voted out, with 125 MLAs of the NDA against, and 112 of the Mahagathbandhan in his favour, including the lone AIMIM MLA.

With this vote showing that the Nitish government was set to win his trust vote, four of the five missing JD(U) MLAs turned up; the only exception was Dilip Rai.

Having voted as per the party whip, the four JD(U) MLAs escaped disqualification from the House. The three RJD legislators who changed sides, however, may face disqualification proceedings.

Replying to Tejashwi’s charge on the NDA wooing RJD MLAs, senior BJP leader and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary