Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi faces trust vote in Assembly today

Mangalore Today News Network

Patna, Feb 20, 2015: D-day has arrived for Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. He, Friday, faces a trust vote on the floor of the Bihar Legislative Assembly to prove majority of his government.

In a good news for the embattled CM, BJP yesterday announced that it will support the ’Mahadalit’ CM during the floor test.

"After a long meeting of the BJP legislators, the party has decided to support Manjhi during his confidence vote in the Assembly," said BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

The BJP’s offer of support came on a day when Bihar Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary notified JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary as the leader of opposition, replacing Nand Kishore Yadav of the BJP.

The Speaker also accepted former chief minister Nitish Kumar’s demand that Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) be given the status of the main opposition party.

Following the Speaker’s decision, BJP MLAs created a ruckus and protested in the Assembly complex .

"How could the Speaker take away the opposition party tag from the BJP," asked senior party leader Shahnawaz Hussain.

"We protest against this move as well as the way the JD-U is treating Manjhi, who is a Mahadalit," Hussain said at a press conference in New Delhi.

He also said that the BJP has nothing to with the charges of horse-trading being made by the Nitish Kumar’s camp.

Manjhi, after being expelled from the JD-U on February 9, has been declared as an unattached member in the Assembly. He was expelled for allegedly "indulging in anti-party activities". But he has refused to resign and has to prove his majority in the house today.

Manjhi yesterday said he will offer Cabinet berths to legislators, who will support him during the confidence motion. "Aaiye mera samarthan kijiye, mantri pad lijiye (come to support me and become a minister)," he told reporters, attending a function here.

Also yesterday, the Patna High Court ordered that eight rebel JD-U legislators, considered close to Manjhi, would not vote during the confidence motion in the Assembly.

A bench of Justice Iqbal Ahmad barred the JD-U MLAs from voting after hearing their petition, seeking permission to vote during the floor test.

Manjhi was picked by Nitish Kumar as his replacement when he quit last year after JD-U’s rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

In the 243-member Assembly, the JD-U has 115 legislators -- most of whom are with Nitish Kumar. The party has the support of 24 Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislators, five Congress MLAs, two Independents and a CPI MLA.

The BJP has 88 legislators and is supported by three Independents.

 

Courtesy: Zeenews