Mahagathbandhan Wins Trust Vote, Kumar Calls for Opposition Unity in 2024

Patna: Bihar chief minister (CM) Nitish Kumar’s new Mahagathbandhan won the trust vote during a special session of the House on Wednesday as opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members walked out.

Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari, from Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), who presided over the session, announced that the trust vote was carried by a majority vote. In the 243-member House, 160 MLAs voted in favour of the grand alliance.

Soon after the session began, Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha of the BJP resigned following a motion of no-confidence moved by the Mahagathbandhan. The new Speaker will be elected on August 26.

The JD(U) had earlier this month dumped its coalition partner BJP and joined hands with opposition parties, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and the Left and formed the new government.

In his address during the confidence motion, Kumar targeted the BJP and its national leadership for “doing nothing, except publicity in the last eight years”. Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, he used the term “Delhi Wala” while lambasting them. “No work, only publicity and propaganda are being done by Delhi. The common man’s earning has been decreasing day by day,” he added.

Kumar further accused the BJP of causing trouble for vested interests to polarise the society. “Their only work is to create disturbance in society.”

The CM also questioned the BJP’s much-hyped celebration of 75 years of Independence and asked, “Where was the BJP in the fight for India’s Independence?”

Kumar said that the Mahagathbandhan has “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 [Lok Sabha] elections”.

The 2024 elections will be “crucial to save democracy in the country as even the press is not allowed to stay independent”, Kumar further said adding that “we must fight together to make a difference”.

RJD leader and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said in the Assembly that the “BJP is afraid of a united Opposition in the state as it fears the party may be wiped out after the 2024 general elections”.

“The BJP is afraid of us coming together in 2024. But we, Samajwadis, are not afraid of anyone. We will not allow the legacy of socialist politics to end. This alliance is here to stay for long. It will be a never-ending innings. It is time for the BJP to introspect why it has been left without any alliance partner due to its arrogance. What Nitish Kumar has done after joining hands with the grand alliance is raise hope for the Opposition in the country,” Yadav said.

The RJD leader attacked the BJP for “using central agencies against its political rivals when it has nothing to do”. “When the BJP is scared or loses in a state, it puts ahead its three ‘Jamais’ (sons-in-law), CBI, ED and the I-T.”

Referring to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids against RJD leaders Sunil Singh, Subodh Rai, Dr Faiyaz Ahmad and Ashfaque Karim ahead of the confidence vote, Yadav said, “When I visit foreign countries, the BJP issues lookout notices against me and when fraudsters like Nirav Modi run away, they don’t do anything. But people in Delhi have not understood Bihar. We are not easily intimidated.”