Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar comfortably won trust vote in the Assembly, with 140 members — including nine JD(U) rebels — supporting him. Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, however, abstained from the House proceedings and now faces threat of losing his membership for defying JD(U) whip. The vote of trust took place after three-and-a-half hours of debate, with Opposition leader Nand Kishore Yadav delivering a one-hour speech and the CM dismissing allegations of “insulting Dalits by removing Manjhi”. JD(U), which intended to send a message to the Manjhi camp and also to BJP for supporting him, went for lobby division — last exercised in 1967. Under the lobby division in which members either go to a “Yes” or “No” room, 140 MLAs, including nine rebels, signed in Kumar’s favour. Though lobby division was not required with the BJP walking out, JD(U) minister Bijay Kumar Choudhary requested Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary to allow the process. Attacking the CM, Yadav said: “When Nitish was with NDA, he used to exercise authority and had great sheen on his face. Now, in company of RJD and Congress, he has lost it all and looks a pale shadow of his former self.” He wondered why Nitish did not speak against the Manjhi government till February 7 and decided to remove him when he started “emerging as a leader”. “You had been treating Manjhi as your subject and did not have courage to tell him to step down directly and got your spokespersons to rile Manjhi. Was it not a disrespect to the CM’s authority?” Yadav asked. Nitish said: “If you care so much for Mahadalits, why don’t you start saying ‘Jai Jitan Ram’ instead of saying Jai Sri Ram’”. He also attacked the BJP for “poorly” treating its allies such as the Shiv Sena.
