Nitish Kumar, who took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time, will face floor test to prove majority in the legislative assembly today. Kumar had resigned as chief minister and snapped the alliance with the BJP. He had also staked claim to form a government in alliance with RJD and other like-minded parties. Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD was sworn-in as his deputy.
Nitish Kumar reportedly has the support of 165 MLAs, a big majority considering Bihar's state assembly has a full strength of 242.
A day ahead of the session, Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha on Tuesday asserted that he will not resign despite a no-confidence motion moved by MLAs of the ruling ‘mahagathbandhan’. Sinha, a BJP leader, claimed that the motion was based on “false” charges against him, and brought without taking care of “legislative rules”.
“In the no-confidence motion, which seems to have cared little for rules [sansadiya niyam], I have been accused of partisanship [pakshapat] and a dictatorial attitude [tanashahi]. Both allegations are blatantly false. Resigning in such circumstances will hurt my self-respect,” he told reporters.
The speaker, however, did not comment further when asked what was going to be his party’s stance on Wednesday, with the numbers in the house clearly stacked against the BJP. “I am at present occupying the chair and shall be bound by the norms associated with the constitutional office. My priority will be to discharge my duties in accordance with rules,” Sinha added.
