The Nitish-Kumar led Grand Alliance government won the trust vote in the Bihar Assembly even as the Opposition BJP legislators staged a walkout. Nitish Kumar had taken oath as Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time after severing ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier this month.
The floor test was a mere formality as the 'Mahagathbandhan', which comprises Nitish Kumar's JD(U), besides RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M), has a combined strength of more than 160 in the 243-strong House.
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same. The lone MLA of AIMIM, Akhtarul Iman, whose party is not a part of the ruling alliance, also supported the Nitish Kumar government.
The Assembly session started with Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha of the BJP stepping down following a no-confidence motion against him.
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Speaking in the Bihar Assembly during the debate on the motion of confidence, Nitish Kumar launched a scathing attack on the BJP, accusing the saffron party of creating disturbances in the society.
"We (RJD and JDU) have taken the pledge to work together for the development of Bihar. Leaders from across the country called me and congratulated me on this decision and I urged all of them to fight together in the 2024 elections," ANI quoted Nitish Kumar as saying.
Kumar, who broke his alliance with the BJP for the second time in eight years, said he had snapped ties with the party in 2013 in protest against leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani being sidelined.
"Leaders like Vajpayee, Advani treated me with respect. I snapped ties with BJP in 2013 in protest against them being sidelined," Kumar said.
"Their (BJP) only task is to create disturbances in society. Even press is not being allowed to stay independent. We must fight together to make a difference. All that is happening out of Delhi today is publicity," the Bihar CM said.
Hitting out at Kumar, his former deputy and senior BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad said the JD(U) leader had lost "political credibility".
Speaking in the Assembly, Prasad mocked Kumar's "personal ambition to become the prime minister despite not having the ability to become the chief minister on his own steam".
Pointing to "sidelining" of leaders like George Fernandes and Sharad Yadav by Kumar, Prasad said, "Personal ambition caused him to ditch BJP in 2013 and again nine years later."
"He remains the CM though his deputy keeps changing. He is like a batsman who causes others to get run out to remain on the pitch. RJD should remember that its president Lalu Prasad had compared him to a snake that sheds its skin," the BJP leader further said.
The floor test came on a day CBI carried out searches at 25 locations related to RJD leaders in connection with a land-for-jobs case dating back to Lalu Prasad Yadav's tenure as Union Railway minister in the UPA-I government.
The CBI also conducted searches at an under-construction mall in Gurugram that is allegedly being built by a firm owned by Tejashwi Yadav, PTI reported. The under-construction Urban Cubes mall in Sector 71 of Gurugram is being constructed by a company, Whiteland, in which Yadav's family has a stake in ownership.
Raids were carried out at the premises of several senior leaders of the RJD, including MLC Sunil Singh and Rajya Sabha MPs Ashfaque Karim and Faiyaz Ahmad and former MLC Subodh Rai.
Grand Alliance legislators alleged that the BJP was exerting power after Nitish Kumar walked out of NDA alliance. The BJP said that CBI had strong evidence against the RJD leaders based on which the raids were carried out, reported ABP News.