Threats of ‘poaching’, Speaker yet to resign: Bihar political intrigues continue ahead of trust vote

The Mahagathbandhan has 114 MLAs in the 243-member Assembly, eight short of a simple majority. Even if Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha backs it, the Opposition alliance will be four short of the majority mark. The NDA has the support of 128 MLAs, including Manjhi’s party and one Independent MLA.

The other scenario in which the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government can fall is if legislators in the ruling alliance break ranks. Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the BJP on Thursday said, “The NDA government will comfortably win the trust vote. It is the Opposition that needs to worry about keeping its flock together.”

On Tuesday, Samrat Choudhary had warned the RJD of any “stern action”, saying, “Lalu Prasad should know I am well aware of his party’s vulnerability to a split, though the BJP does not believe in such tactics.”

About the Speaker, he said, “It is only a matter of time before the Speaker, against whom all NDA MLAs have moved a no-confidence motion, is replaced. Either he will resign or face the ignominy of being voted out in the House where a majority of members do not have faith in him.”

Deputy Assembly Speaker and senior JD (U) leader Maheshwar Hazari on Thursday said, “The Speaker should have resigned on moral grounds as he is facing a no-confidence motion. He should let the House choose its new Speaker.”

But defending his decision, the Speaker, who is said to be sticking around as directed by his party bosses, said, “As I am facing a no-confidence motion, I am under a 14-day notice period and am very much the Speaker till the period is over. There is no question of my resigning. I am going only by set procedures.”

BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha, now a Deputy CM along with Samrat Choudhary, was the Speaker when Nitish ditched the NDA in August 2022 and joined the Mahagathbandhan. Facing a no-confidence motion, he too resigned before voting on a trust motion. Sources close to Awadh Bihari Choudhary said he too might do the same.

Who is Awadh Bihari Choudhary?

The 76-year-old is a six-time MLA from Siwan. His political career got off to a flying start after he won as a Janta Party candidate in the 1985 Assembly polls. Choudhary retained his seat as Janata Dal candidate in the 1990 and 1995 Assembly polls and as an RJD candidate in 2000 and the February 2005 polls.

But he lost the elections to the NDA’s Vyasdeo Prasad in the state elections held in October 2005. Prasad retained Siwan in the next two Assembly polls. Choudhary joined the JD(U) after the 2010 Assembly polls but could not carve out a space for himself. After the 2015 Assembly polls, he returned to the RJD. Choudhary was seen as the RJD’s Yadav face in Siwan, more so during the years when former Siwan MP Mohammed Shahabuddin dominated politics in the region.