On the eve of the trust vote in Bihar on Friday, sources claim that Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is likely to have help on its way in the form of BJP.
Despite not having the numbers to pull off the trust vote, Manjhi, who has called a cabinet meeting on Thursday evening, is confident that he has the support to continue as chief minister, reports NDTV.
Earlier this month Manjhi was expelled from Janata Dal (United) after he refused to step down in favour of Nitish Kumar as the state CM. Considering that Manjhi only has 12 lawmakers from JD(U) in his camp, the chances of him winning the trust vote, even with BJP support, appears to be slim.
However, in a new twist to the tale, four rebel JD(U) MLAs who were suspended in November for anti-party activities will not be allowed to vote on Friday. The Patna High court refused to grant voting rights to Gyanendra Singh Gyanu, Rahul Sharma, Ravindra Rai and Neeraj Kumar Babloo.
In another major development on Thursday, Bihar Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary notified JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary as the leader of opposition in the assembly, replacing BJP's Nand Kishore Yadav, reports IANS.
The speaker accepted former chief minister Nitish Kumar's demand of giving the Janata Dal (United) the status of main opposition party.
The BJP legislators created a ruckus and protested in the Bihar assembly complex against the decision to appoint Chaudhary as the leader of opposition.
"We will not sit silently...giving the status of the opposition party to JD(U) is not correct. We will protest against this move," Yadav said.
