Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday won the trust vote in the state Assembly, with 130 legislators voting in his favour, even as the Opposition staged a walkout. The Bihar Assembly has a strength of 243 MLAs.
The floor test took place two weeks after Kumar jumped ship from the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) — a JD(U), RJD and Congress front — to the BJP-led NDA bloc. During the session, three Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLAs, namely Prahlad Yadav, Neelam Devi and Chetan Anand, switched over to the NDA
Speaking in the Assembly, the CM claimed that the RJD was trying to take credit for the initiatives he had brought in. He also alleged that for 15 years, the Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi governments had not done anything for Bihar's development.
Kumar also highlighted the changes brought about by his JD(U) government since 2005 when he first came to power. "What they didn't do for 15 years, I took up immediately. I have worked for every level of the society, for their development. Law and order has improved, women can now venture out late at night."
"When they came again, they just continued my policies and initiatives, and are now trying to take credit," he added.
Kumar further said that fights between Hindus and Muslims stopped when he became the CM. "They say that Muslims are with them. But what did they do? So many fights happened between Hindus and Muslims during their rule. It all stopped once I came (as CM)," he said.
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had 15 years to work for the state "before I was elected in 2005", the CM said in his address to the Assembly. "The contrast is visible," he said.
Earlier, former Bihar deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took a jibe at Nitish Kumar for switching sides.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate our CM (Nitish Kumar) for scripting history by taking oath for the ninth consecutive time. We have not witnessed such a wonderful scene of taking oath for the third time in one term," RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said in the Assembly.