Today in Politics: Will Jayant Chaudhary announce BJP deal on his father’s birth anniversary?

It is the start of the week and we are in for a ride. Among the big political stories of the day will be the Bihar trust vote as Nitish Kumar, sworn in for the ninth time as CM on January 28, proves that his NDA government has the majority in the state Assembly.

After days of political intrigue that saw Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary refuse to step down, Congress MLAs flown to Hyderabad to be sequestered, BJP move its MLAs move to Bodh Gaya ostensibly for a “training camp”, and RJD MLAs and Left legislators stay put at former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav’s home over the weekend, Assembly proceedings will kick off at 11 am with Governor R V Arlekar’s address. It will be followed by the tabling of a no-confidence motion against Choudhary, who is most likely to step down before the motion can be put to vote, and then the vote on the confidence motion.

As the numbers stand, the NDA has six more MLAs than the halfway mark of 122 while the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan is eight short. Until and unless utter chaos unfolds, the Nitish Kumar government will sail through. But as the developments of the past few days, especially Sunday, showed, political circles in Patna are on the edge.

On Sunday, Santosh Singh reported that there was fierce speculation around five JD(U) MLAs who skipped a legislature party meeting, and a missing person complaint filed by RJD MLA Chetan Anand’s brother Anshuman Anand. Chetan was at Tejashwi’s home and said he was there of his own volition. The arrival of the police at the former Deputy CM’s residence in connection with Anshuman’s complaint did not go down well with RJD workers camping outside.

Late at night, the RJD’s official handle posted on X, “Nitish Kumar, fearing the government, has sent thousands of