Nitish floor test: Bihar CM moves confidence motion to prove majority

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday moved a confidence motion in the Bihar Assembly to prove the majority of his new government.

RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav, the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, spoke first on the confidence motion and launched a scathing attack against Kumar for dumping the Grand Alliance government.

RJD MLAs protested in the portico of Assembly, signalling their aggressive mood ahead of the trust vote. Live telecast of House proceedings was prohibited and reporters were not allowed to use their mobile phones inside.

Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi had asked the chief minister on Thursday to seek a confidence vote within two days of his swearing-in.

Kumar, 66, was sworn in on Friday, returning to the National Democratic Alliance after four years. The NDA alliance had submitted a list of 132 MLAs to the governor. These include 71 of JD(U), BJP 53, RLSP two, LJP two, HAM one and three independents. In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the RJD has 80 MLAs, the Congress 27 and the CPI-ML has three.