Tejashwi Yadav
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, February 12: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar bit his upper lip furiously as his former deputy Tejashwi Yadav began counting the betrayals of his ex-boss. Yadav struck the tone of resignation after sighting three legislators of his party sitting in the treasury benches. In the end, it was a facile win for the Bihar chief minister in the flood test.
The Janata dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance garnered the support of 130 legislators in the Bihar Assembly. The half way mark jn the House is 122 while the total strength is 243. Kumar in his intervention during the debate vowed to probe allegations of corruption against the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) when the party was in power in the state until it was voted out in 2005.
But it was Yadav who relished in his guarded attack on the chief minister. He repeatedly implored upon Kumar to tell the House about his reason to join hands with the BJP and quit the grand alliance. “You had set out to unite the Opposition parties. You had spelt out reasons to work unitedly against Modi and the BJP. You had given the call for the caste census. Why did you abandon all the causes that you had espoused and went to the BJP? What were your compulsions,” Yadav pleaded with the Bihar chief minister for answers.
The BJP leaders were seen in the House working hard to be comfortable in the company of the JD (U) legislators. Yadav sought to touch the raw nerves of the BJP also by repeatedly stressing that Kumar has set a record of a sort by taking oath as the chief minister of Bihar three times in the same tenure. “Why do you keep changing the sides; only you can tell the House,” said Yadav.
The JD (U) legislator Chatan Anand was the surprise package in the Bihar Assembly. A day before he had played cricket with Yadav. But on the D-day, he sat along with the JD (U) legislators. Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi also belied all speculations of a surprise by staying put with the JD (U)-BJP alliance.
The comfortable win of the floor test also has put to the rest to speculations that the BJP would be eyeing Bihar Assembly election along with the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The Bihar Assembly poll will be due in 2025. The BJP-JD (U) alliance had won the 2020 Assembly election with a narrow margin with a few thousand of additional votes against the pre-poll alliance of the RJD-Congress-Left parties. In his parting shot, Yadav told the Bihar chief minister that he would be available of there be a need for him in a signal that he also believed in claim that ‘Nitish sabke haen (belongs to all)’.
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