PATNA: Hours before the Nitish Kumar- led Mahagathbandhan government won the trust vote in the Bihar Assembly, CBI teams went after the RJD, the biggest component in the ruling coalition, by raiding 27 locations in connection with a land-for-jobs Railways scam.
Nitish comfortably won the floor test later in the day by voice vote amid a walkout by the BJP. The seven-party Mahagathbandhan got 160 votes in the 243-member Assembly.
The CBI had on May 18 registered an FIR against former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and his daughters in connection with the scam when Lalu was Railway minister in the UPA government.
It is alleged that aspirants had sold their land to the Yadav family at cheaper than market price in return for jobs in Railways.
Among the premises searched was an under-construction mall in Gurugram allegedly linked to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. Tejashwi, however, refuted allegations of his links with the mall saying it belongs to someone in Haryana, and was inaugurated by a BJP MP.
Replying to the debate on his trust vote, Nitish lauded Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani while tearing into the current dispensation, accusing it of chasing publicity and not doing anything for the country’s development.
Nitish also accused the BJP of unnecessarily creating tensions in the society by driving a wedge between the Hindus and the Muslims.
He alleged that social media and the press were under its control. He called on the Opposition to work together to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“If all opposition parties work together, results of the 2024 elections will be different,” he assured.
Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari ordered a headcount upon a request by Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the parliamentary affairs minister, who said that though a voice vote had clearly showed support of the majority, voting would "leave no room for any ambiguity".
As per the headcount, 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 took part in the headcount and supported the confidence motion.
Some of the BJP MLAs, who had staged a walkout while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was delivering his speech, stormed into the House demanding that the Deputy Speaker not waste time on a redundant headcount but take up businesses scheduled for the day and announced a boycott of the proceedings.
Proceedings were, subsequently, adjourned till Friday by the Deputy speaker who also informed the House that on Thursday nomination papers will be filed for the election of a new Speaker, the post having fallen vacant upon the resignation of BJP's Vijay Kumar Sinha.
In his speech that lasted for about half an hour, Kumar made indirect references to rebellion by LJP's Chirag Paswan, allegedly at BJP's behest, and attempts to cause a split in JD(U) through his former protégé RCP Singh.
Kumar asserted that he had "no personal ambitions", rejecting the BJP's charge that his latest volte-face was aimed at becoming the Prime Ministerial candidate of the opposition camp.
He, nonetheless, spoke of his interactions with leaders from across the country whom he has urged to stay united for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The JD(U) leader also recounted his old association with the BJP and underscored the contrast between the current dispensation and the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, and Murli Manohar Joshi.
The chief minister also said, "the current dispensation does little except publicity (prachar prasar). When BJP MLAs protested, he added speak against me. Maybe this will earn you some rewards from your political bosses".
Kumar also recalled the humiliation he felt when his request for granting central status to Patna University was rejected by the Prime Minister in full public glare.
This, he said, was in sharp contrast with the bygone era when Murli Manohar Joshi, the then Union HRD minister, had readily accepted that his alma mater, the Bihar Engineering College here, be upgraded to the status of an NIT.
Kumar also pointed out that after the 2020 assembly polls, when he was requested by the BJP to continue despite a diminution in JD(U)'s tally, he felt disappointed at many old ministers like Sushil Kumar Modi, Nand Kishore Yadav and Prem Kumar being dropped.
"But I did not say anything since it was an internal matter of their party. They (BJP MLAs) have run away. Had they stayed back, I would have recalled many things which could have caused them discomfort", said Kumar.
The chief minister admitted to having severed ties with RJD in 2017 over corruption cases against Tejashwi Yadav, who is back as his deputy, but pointed out "five years have since passed. Not one thing has been proven".
He expressed anguish over the BJP "only blowing the trumpet of the government at the Centre. Even our own scheme Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal which has been replicated nationally, is being talked about as if it was their initiative".
Kumar also lambasted the BJP for raising controversy over the entry inside a temple by his new cabinet colleague Israil Ahmed Mansuri and reminded the former ally that "Muslims too voted for them when they were with me".
He also expressed displeasure over frequent references by BJP leaders to the JD(U)'s inferior numerical strength and reminded the saffron party of assembly elections of 2005 and 2010, besides the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, when "we had won far too many seats".
Lending his weight to the opposition's cry of "democracy under threat" the JD(U) leader said, "even the media is not being allowed to function independently. But we must fight together to bring about a change".
He also mocked the "Har Ghar Tiranga" and "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" campaigns, questioning the role played by RSS, the BJP's parent organization.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA and former Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad alleged outside the assembly that the Deputy Speaker allowed headcount "deliberately so that scheduled businesses could not be taken up. One of the matters listed was related to misconduct of some Mahagathbandhan MLAs".
The allusion was to a report of the Ethics Committee which is understood to have indicted more than a dozen MLAs of RJD for an incident involving Vijay Kumar Sinha last year when he was held hostage inside his chamber for several hours.
Kumar on Wednesday said that the current dispensation at the Centre does little except publicity.
Kumar said this in his speech during a debate on the motion of confidence for his government.
The newly formed 'Mahagathbandhan' government won the motion of confidence amid a walkout staged by MLAs of the BJP, which has been stripped of power as a result of the recent political upheaval in the state.
"Their (BJP) only task is to create disturbances in society," Kumar said.
He expressed anguish over the BJP "only blowing the trumpet of the government at the Centre. Even our own scheme Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal which has been replicated nationally is being talked about as if it was their initiative. All that is happening out of Delhi today is publicity."
"The current dispensation does little except publicity ('prachar prasar')".
When BJP MLAs protested, he said they were free to speak against him.
"Maybe this will earn you some rewards from your political bosses," the chief minister said.
Rejecting the BJP's charge that his latest volte-face was aimed at becoming the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition camp, Kumar asserted that he had "no personal ambitions".
He, nonetheless, spoke of his interactions with leaders from across the country whom he has urged to stay united for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The JD(U) leader also recounted his old association with the BJP and underscored the contrast between the current dispensation and the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, and Murli Manohar Joshi.
"Leaders like Vajpayee, Advani treated me with respect", the JD(U) leader said.
Kumar also recalled the humiliation he felt when his request for granting central status to Patna University was rejected by the Prime Minister in full public glare.
This, he said, was in sharp contrast with the bygone era when Murli Manohar Joshi, the then Union HRD Minister, had readily accepted that his alma mater, the Bihar Engineering College here, be upgraded to the status of an NIT.
Nitish Kumar made indirect references to rebellion by LJP's Chirag Paswan, allegedly at BJP's behest, and attempts to cause a split in JD(U) through his former protégé RCP Singh.
Kumar also pointed out that after the 2020 assembly polls, when he was requested by the BJP to continue despite a diminution in JD(U)'s tally, he felt disappointed at many old ministers like Sushil Kumar Modi, Nand Kishore Yadav and Prem Kumar being dropped.
"But I did not say anything since it was an internal matter of their party. They (BJP MLAs) have run away. Had they stayed back, I would have recalled many things which could have caused them discomfort", said Kumar.
The chief minister admitted to having severed ties with RJD in 2017 over corruption cases against Tejashwi Yadav, who is back as his deputy, but pointed out "five years have since passed. Not one thing has been proven".
Kumar also lambasted the BJP for raising controversy over the entry inside a temple by his new cabinet colleague Israil Ahmed Mansuri and reminded the former ally that "Muslims too voted for them when they were with me".
He also expressed displeasure over frequent references by BJP leaders to the JD(U)'s inferior numerical strength and reminded the saffron party of assembly elections of 2005 and 2010, besides the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, when "we had won far too many seats".
Lending his weight to the opposition's cry of "democracy under threat" the JD(U) leader said, "even the media is not being allowed to function independently. But we must fight together to bring about a change".
The veteran socialist also mocked the "Har Ghar Tiranga" and "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" campaigns, questioning the role played by RSS, the BJP's parent organisation.
The newly-formed government in Bihar on Wednesday comfortably won the motion of confidence through a voice vote, after which the Deputy Speaker ordered a headcount upon a request by Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the parliamentary affairs minister, who said that though a voice vote had clearly showed support of the majority, the exercise would "leave no room for any ambiguity".
As per the headcount, 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 took part in the headcount and supported the confidence motion.
(With PTI Inputs)