The floor test of the new Bihar government is set to take place in the assembly on Monday, February 12. The new state government is led by the coalition of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS).
Earlier, Nitish Kumar was part of the Mahagathbandhan. However, he left that alliance to take oath for the record ninth time as the Bihar chief minister on January 28 — this time with the BJP's support.
Kumar's new cabinet will now have to go through a trust vote to prove that it has the support of the majority of the MLAs in the Bihar Assembly. But, what are the chances of Nitish Kumar winning this trust vote? Let's take a look at what numbers in the state assembly currently show:
(Data source: vidhansabha.bih.nic.in)
Now, Nitish Kumar, who joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last month, needs the support of at least 122 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly to remain the CM.
So, as per the calculation, there are a total of 128 MLAs are part of the JDU-NDA alliance as of now. These include MLAs from the JD(U), the BJP and the HAM(S). One among them is an Independent MLA.
With 128 MLAs in support, Nitish Kumar's government comfortably crosses the majority mark. So, if all these MLAs continue to support the Nitish Kumar's government, then the CM will comfortably win the trust vote.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Mahagathbandhan has a total of 114 MLAs in its favour — eight short of the majority mark of 122. The Mahagathbandhan includes MLAs from the RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI(M) and CPI.
Political parties rush to 'keep the flock together'
To thwart any poaching attempt by the NDA, RJD MLAs have been camping at former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav's residence since Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the BJP shifted its MLAs to Maha Bodhi resort in Bodh Gaya days before the floor test. The BJP said the MLAs were sent to Bodh Gaya resort for some training and there is no threat of poaching from the opposition.
A JD(U) leader said all the MLAs are in regular contact with the party and that he was confident that the Nitish Kumar-led coalition would sail past the majority mark during the floor test.
Amid rumours that the principal opposition party, the RJD, might try to poach its MLAs, Manjhi was quoted by PTI as saying on Saturday, "Hum gareeb ho sakte hain par beiman nahi (We might be poor but are not dishonest)".
