Bihar Trust Vote: How numbers stack up as BJP-JD(U) combine readies for floor test today

Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a record ninth time on January 28, saying the state of affairs was "not right" in the Grand Alliance.

The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government will face a floor test on February 12 to prove that it has the majority support in the House. The trust vote will kick off the Budget Session of the Assembly.

Amid the the anxious wait ahead of the trust vote, the ruling Janata Dal (United), which faces its first big test on the floor of the Assembly after its return to the BJP-led NDA, shifted its MLAs to a hotel near the legislature.

The JD(U) has also issued a three-line whip to all of its legislators to be present and vote for the alliance.

The new government is led by the coalition of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS).

The BJP-JD(U) combine has 128 members in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, far past the majority mark of 122. With 128 MLAs in support, Nitish Kumar's government comfortably crosses the majority mark. So, if all these MLAs continue to support his government, then the chief minister will win the trust vote at ease.

The Opposition bloc Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) includes MLAs from the RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI(M) and CPI. With 114 MLAs in its favour, the opposition bloc is eight short of the majority mark.

The trust vote was preceded by rumours of several MLAs of the Rashtriya Janata Dal gone missing.

Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a record ninth time on January 28, saying that the state of affairs was "not right" in the Grand Alliance.

Various media reports suggested that he was upset over the lack of clarity in INDIA bloc's poll preparations and being passed over as a possible prime ministerial candidate.