 "Nitish Kumar returns as Bihar CM: Game over for RJD as JD(U), BJP have the numbers to form govt")
Nitish Kumar’s move to resign as chief minister of Bihar has worked in his favour, even if his move brought an end to Bihar’s Grand Alliance. It was just hours after Narendra Modi tweeted, praising Nitish for his resignation, and as The Indian Express reported, by midnight, Nitish had BJP’s support. With BJP’s backing, Nitish intends to stake claim to form the government. On Thursday, he will take oath as Bihar chief minister to return to his seat, while BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi will also swear-in, but as the deputy chief minister to replace Tejashwi Yadav. Even though Nitish’s masterstroke has not gone down well with Tejashwi, there is nothing that the RJD supremo’s son can do about it. On Wednesday, Tejashwi told ANI that being the largest party with 80 MLAs in the House of 243, RJD would also “seek time from the Governor to stake claim to form the government.”
Have asked Governor for time to meet, being the largest party we will stake claim to from govt, tweets Tejashwi Yadav (file pic) #Bihar pic.twitter.com/UZSLTHp9FM
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2017
Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi gave Nitish two days from Wednesday to prove majority in the Bihar Assembly, which means Nitish has to conduct a floor test by Friday. The JD(U)-BJP combination has the numbers in the Bihar Assembly to prove its majority. Together, the JD(U) and NDA allies have 129 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, seven more than the magic figure of 122. While RJD has 80 MLAs, even if it tries to form alliance with Congress, which has 27 MLAs, and CPI-ML, which has three, their number would only add up to 110. There are four independent MLAs who are likely to throw their weight behind the coalition which enjoys majority support. Tejashwi immediately met the governor on Wednesday to register his protest against Tripathi’s decision to let Nitish take the oath at 10 am, while meet the RJD at 11 am on Thursday. However, if a trust vote does happen with BJP backing JD(U), Tejashwi will have no option but to give up his seat.
Patna (Bihar): Tejashwi Yadav marches towards Raj Bhavan along with other RJD members pic.twitter.com/Z1csgbL0ur
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2017
Follow Live updates on the Bihar political crisis With inputs from PTI
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