Nitish blinks first, Oppn nominee is Speaker

PATNA, MARCH 9: In a surprise development, the NDA on Thursday supported the RJD-sponsored Congress nominee Sadanand Singh for the post of...

PATNA, MARCH 9: In a surprise development, the NDA on Thursday supported the RJD-sponsored Congress nominee Sadanand Singh for the post of Bihar assembly Speaker facilitating his unanimous election thereby averting a trial of strength by a day.

The NDA decision sent a wave of jubiliation in RJD circles and its allies with Laloo Prasad Yadav demanding immediate resignation of Kumar. Terming the NDA decision as "abject surrender before the majority" on his side, Yadav charged the NDA with having bought a little more time for horse-trading, but said it would not succeed in its "pernicious ambition."

The NDA led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is scheduled to seek a confidence vote on Friday, had earlier nominated JD(U)’s Gajendra Prasad Himanshu for the post. However, Kumar told a hurriedly convened press conference on Thursday morning that in order to maintain ‘healthy parliamentary convention’, his alliance had decided to back Singh.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting attended by top NDA leaders, including Union ministers Ramvilas Paswan, Sharad Yadav, BJP national vice-president Kailashpati Mishra and Himanshu.

Shortly afterwards, the state assembly met and elected Singh as Speaker of the 324-member house unanimously. RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav proposed Singh’s name which was seconded by a former RJD Minister, Shanker Prasad Tekriwal, and the motion was carried unanimously amid thumping of desks by the ruling and opposition benches.

Kumar, however, asserted that backing Singh for the office of Speaker did not imply acceptance of defeat by the NDA and that the issue would be settled on Friday. "I still command the majority and will prove it in the house tomorrow," he claimed.

In the precariously hung 324-member assembly, the 122-member NDA claims support of 12 members of the JMM(S), 15 independents and two members of a small party for a combined tally of 151, which is still short of a simple majority by 11.

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With Laloo Prasad Yadav and the JD(U)’s Narendra Singh having won two seats each but having only one vote each, the majority mark has come down by one vote.

Compared to this, the RJD-led combine with 125 seats, claims the support of the 23-member Congress, BSP (five), RCP (two), MCC (one) and four independents for a tally of 160.

While the NDA is still hoping to lure away the required number of one-third MLAs from the Congress and the BSP, Laloo Prasad Yadav is confident that once Kumar is voted out, he would have no problem garnering support of a few more MLAs from among the independents and other parties now aligned with the NDA.

The five-member CPI and six-member CPI-ML are not aligned to either side but are expected to vote against the NDA considering their antipathy to the BJP. The CPI-ML has already announced this though the CPI is yet to come out with a formal announcement on the issue.