CM Nitish confident of proving majority, Bihar assembly session begins

Patna: The Bihar assembly will witness a fate deciding day- long special session from 1100 hours on Friday as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be seeking trust vote to facilitate the new JD(U)-NDA government in the state.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who was earlier the Deputy CM of the state, have reached the assembly for the floor test. Being the opposition leader, Tejashwi will speak first.

Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary stated that the assembly secretariat has informed the house members to participate in the special session by telephone, SMS and letters.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal has appealed for a 'conscience vote' in which there is a possibility of cross polls as the legislators are not bound to vote for their party.

The Janata Dal-United leaders said Nitish Kumar was 'calm and cool' and spent the early morning at his official residence as usual, not worried about the trust vote in the 243-seat legislature. "Nitish Kumar is confident that the JD-U-BJP combine will get 132 votes and will prove their majority in the assembly," JD-U leader Neeraj Kumar said.

JD-U spokesperson Sanjay Singh stated that the trust vote would be smooth sailing for Nitish Kumar. "There is no if and but, we are sure and certain of it hundred per cent," Singh said.

He said the JD-U and BJP have already issued whip to their party legislators. The RJD and Congress have also issued whip to their party legislators.

Also read: Will not let Bihar Assembly to function, threatens RJD

Here are the highlights:

• After he took oath as Chief Minister on Thursday with support from the BJP, Nitish Kumar vowed to seek a vote of confidence at a special session of the state assembly.
• Nitish Kumar needs 122 votes to win today's trust vote.
• In the 243-member Bihar assembly, the RJD has 80 MLAs, the Congress has 27 and the CPI-ML has three.
• The NDA alliance had submitted a list of 132 MLAs yesterday to the governor. These include 71 of JD(U), BJP 53, RLSP two, LJP two, HAM one and three independents.
• According to officials at 1 Anne Marg, official residence of Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar was not at all 'tense'.
• Senior BJP functionary Sushil Kumar Modi, who was sworn in as deputy chief minister on Thursday, believes Nitish Kumar-Narendra Modi combine will create miracles in Bihar and ensure NDA's massive victory in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He said "anti-Congress component is there in Nitish's blood".
• RJD leader Bhai Varinder said that his party would stage protest in the state assembly.
• Another senior RJD leader said that the party would walk out of the assembly.