RJD weighs no-trust vote in Bihar
2 min readPatna: Emboldened by the no-confidence motion brought against the Narendra Modi government at the centre, the main opposition in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Lalu Prasad, is now considering doing the same against the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.
Nitish, who heads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state, enjoys only a simple majority in the House.
“We might bring it (non-confidence motion) some time. If not in this session, then in the next session,” Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly, told the media on Friday.
Tejashwi said a no-confidence vote is not always aimed at bringing the government down but could help bring the people’s issues to the notice of the government. “No-confidence emotion is not always to take the government down. Sometimes, it’s for making government provide answers to the public,” he explained.
Tejashwi made these announcements as the week-long monsoon session of the Bihar assembly began on Friday. The state government is scheduled to bring amendments to the existing excise law during the session, which is scheduled to end on July 26.
The existing law has ushered in total prohibition in the state.
The RJD reckons that many members of the ruling coalition are not happy with the functioning of the government and may choose to vote against their own government going by their conscience. The Nitish Kumar government currently enjoys only a simple majority in the 243-member Bihar assembly with just 127 members.
The JD-U and the BJP have 70 and 53 members respectively. Apart from them, the JD-U has the support of four other lawmakers from the Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. On the other hand, the RJD is the single largest party in the House with 81 lawmakers and is allied to the Congress with 27 lawmakers.
Earlier Nitish headed the Grand Alliance government comprising the JD-U, RJD and the Congress party but, in July last year, he walked out of the Grand Alliance to form a government with the BJP against which he had won elections.
Courtesy: Gulf News
