Nitish Kumar’s Overnight Triumph: Nitish Kumar won the floor test in Bihar Assembly. 129 votes were cast in his favor, while the main opposition party RJD walked out. However, a few hours before the floor test, former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav had talked about playing on a big level in the state. Not only this, many of Nitish’s MLAs were also seen missing from his meeting yesterday. Not only were they missing, but the phones of three of the MLAs were also switched off. After which the discussion started intensifying that these MLAs are going to betray Nitish by going to Tejashwi’s side before the floor test from tomorrow.
In such a situation, the question arises that what did Nitish Kumar do in one night that the game could not be played in Bihar and the tables were turned…
How the tables turned overnight, understand in 3 points
1. Conditions accepted by the MLAs –
There are four MLAs of Hindustani Awam Morcha in Bihar and these MLAs had an important role in proving the majority, but a day before the floor test, 6 MLAs went out of contact. He also did not attend the banquet organized for party MLAs at the residence of State Minister Shravan Kumar.
However, three of these MLAs returned on the same day. At the same time, an MLA Sanjeev Kumar was taken into custody by the police as soon as he entered Bihar from Jharkhand.
2. Nitish himself talked to the angry MLAs –
According to information received from sources, Nitish Kumar himself talked to all the angry MLAs on phone call and convinced them to reach the Bihar Assembly.
3. Sent Nityanand to convince Jitan Ram Manjhi –
A day before the floor test, Nitish Kumar had entrusted the task of convincing the angry Manjhi to Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai. Even today, before reaching the Bihar Assembly of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Nityanand stayed at his residence for about half an hour.
During this, the strategy of trust vote was discussed between the two leaders. During this meeting, all four MLAs of Hindustani Awam Morcha were also present there.
Why was Manjhi angry?
In fact, our leader and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is supporting the Nitish government, has put forth his demands several times before the floor test. He says that his party was promised two ministerial posts in the government, it should be fulfilled. Currently, only Manjhi’s son Santosh Suman has been made minister.
Trouble for the families of Anand Mohan and Anant Singh
Nitish Kumar took care of Anand Mohan’s son and Anant Singh’s wife before the floor test. Both were in the RJD camp. Apart from this, Prahlad Yadav was also seen sitting in the ruling party camp. Anant Singh’s wife Neelam Devi is MLA from Mokama, while Anand Mohan’s son Chetan Anand is from Shivhar. Both were considered close to the Lalu family. RJD’s game plan got spoiled due to both of them joining Nitish Kumar’s side.
Now there is discussion that Anand Mohan’s wife can contest Loksabha Elections from Vaishali or Shivhar seat on JDU ticket, while Neelam Devi can also get a big reward from Nitish Kumar. There is also talk of Anant Singh’s release.
5 NDA MLAs did not reach the floor
Three JDU MLAs Bima Bharti, Dilip Roy and three BJP MLAs Mishri Lal Yadav, Rashmi Verma and Bhagirathi Devi did not reach the floor.
Who had the support of how many MLAs before the floor test?
There are total 243 seats in Bihar Assembly and 122 seats are required to form the government here. Before the floor test, NDA had the support of 128 MLAs. That means NDA had 5 more MLAs in support than the majority. In NDA, BJP had 78 MLAs, HAM had 4 and JDU had 45 MLAs. At the same time, NDA also had the support of an independent MLA.
On the other hand, if we talk about the opposition, before the floor test they had the support of a total of 114 MLAs, which is only 8 MLAs less than the majority. RJD has 79 MLAs, Congress has 19 and Left has 16 MLAs in the Grand Alliance. Apart from this, Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM also has an MLA in Bihar, who is neither included in the NDA nor in the Grand Alliance.
Who has how much support after Bihar floor test?
- Total MLAs- 243
- Majority figure- 122
- NDA- 129
- BJP- 78
- JDU-43 (3 RJD MLAs voted in favor of the government. Assembly Speaker Maheshwar Hazari did not vote)
- HAM- 04
- Independent- 01
- Grand Alliance-112
- RJD- 76 (3 MLAs went in favor of the government)
- Congress- 19
- Left- 16
- AIMIM-01
Table of Contents
Understand how floor test is done?
Floor test can be called vote of confidence in Hindi language. Through which it is decided whether the current Chief Minister or government of any state has sufficient majority or not. The MLAs who win the public vote in the floor test decide the future of the government through their votes.
This is a transparent process going on in the House. The Governor cannot interfere in any way in this. During the trust vote, MLAs or MPs have to be personally present in the House and give their vote i.e. support in front of everyone.
If the matter is of the Central Government, then in such a situation the Prime Minister has to prove whether he has the support of enough MPs or not. But in the case of a state, the floor test is held in the Legislative Assembly, while in the case of a central government, the floor test is held in the Lok Sabha.
In the floor test, MLAs or MPs have to be personally present in the House and give their vote i.e. support in front of everyone.
Who conducts floor test?
The responsibility of this entire process rests with the Speaker of the House. If the Speaker has not been elected in any state, then in such a situation the Protem Speaker is appointed. In a way, these are temporary speakers. Although this entire process is transparent.
The Supreme Court has also mentioned in one of its orders that all decisions related to the floor test are taken by the Protem Speaker. In the case of voting, the first voice vote is taken from the MLAs. After which the quorum bell rings and all the MLAs present in the House are asked to divide into ruling party and opposition.
During this process, the MLAs move towards the “support or opposition” lobby in the House. After which the MLAs in favor and the MLAs divided in opposition are counted and then the Speaker declares the result on this basis.
During counting, if the ruling party has the majority figure then the government is saved and if the government falls short of the magic figure then the government falls.
What will happen if you fail in floor test?
If a Chief Minister fails in the majority test then he has to resign.
