Ahead of floor test, Shah to address BJP MLAs in Gaya

Ahead of the floor test in the Bihar assembly on Monday, two-day workshop of BJP legislators and leaders in the state will be held in Bodh Gaya on Saturday and Sunday, while chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD-U is hosting a feast for all legislators on Saturday.

BJP legislators have started reaching Bodh Gaya for the workshop, which will be addressed virtually by home minister Amit Shah, among others.

“It was a pre-scheduled workshop and the legislators will reach Patna by Sunday evening to participate in the Budget session starting Monday,” deputy chief minister and Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary said.

Making light of the Opposition RJD’s assertion that “the game is on”, Choudhary said there was nothing like that and the floor test would be a smooth affair for the NDA due to numbers in its favour.

JD(U) has asked its legislators to gather at minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary’s residence in Patna for a meeting on Sunday, while on Saturday there will be a feast and get-together at his Cabinet colleague Shravan Kumar’s home on Saturday.

This is being viewed as an attempt on part of the two big constituents of the NDA to keep their flock together ahead of the floor test, as the RJD has been constantly talking about some “game” during the floor test and there has been a lot of rumour about “missing MLAs”.

“There is nothing to worry. The very name of our party is united. RJD leadership is restless and we cannot help it,” said JD-U spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar.

However, with the Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary clearly stating that he would not resign despite the no-confidence notice served against him by the NDA, it is certain that RJD is in no mood to give up easily and would like to test the NDA nerves.

A similar situation had arisen up in 2022, when the then Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, now the Deputy CM, had refused to quit, but finally resigned ahead of the trust vote to avoid discussion on the no-confidence notice against him.

NDA has a support of 128 legislators, including four of the HAM-S of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and an Independent, in the 243-member assembly.

However, the new government, formed on January 28, has avoided cabinet expansion so far, continuing with just nine ministers, including the CM, against the sanctioned strength of 37.

“The NDA has clear majority, but not a comfortable majority. In politics, nobody likes to take any chances. Therefore, NDA has kept cabinet expansion on hold to avoid any dissension at this stage, as all hopefuls cannot be accommodated in the ministry,” said former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies DM Diwakar.