Nitish trust vote Wednesday, JD(U) says whip also applies to ex-CM Manjhi

On the eve of Nitish Kumar trust vote, the JD(U) and the RJD held a meeting with legislators and told them to vote for the trust motion. Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, however, asked RJD chief Lalu Prasad not to support Nitish and “confirm that he cares for the poor”.

Even though Manjhi has been expelled from the JD(U), he may lose his membership if he violates the whip. The JD(U) chief whip Shravan Kumar said: “Manjhi will be treated as unattached member of the JD(U) and the whip will be very much applicable to him. Nine other rebels have also been given the notice.”

Manjhi camp is in a fix and has not made its stand clear. They can either vote against Nitish Kumar or walk out of the Assembly. Sumit Kumar Singh, a Manjhi camp MLA, said: “We have not done anything so far to lose our membership. We will decide what to do during trust vote.” Kumar, who claimed support of 130 MLAs, including 24 of RJD, five of Congress, one of CPI and one Independent, needs the support of 117 MLAs in truncated House of 233 members in place of its original strength of 243. Now that JD(U) has issued the whip, 10 rebel MLAs siding with Manjhi would lose their Assembly membership if they vote against the CM.

The budget session that would open with the Governor’s speech will be followed by the trust vote. The Opposition BJP, that will oppose trust vote with its 87 members, has charted its line of attack. BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said: “We will attack the JD(U) government over poor law and order, political instability and lack of governance since NDA split.” RJD legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui said they would defend the government when required but would surely engage in constructive criticism on matters of people’s concerns.

Source:: Indian Express