Nitish Kumar’s Test Of Majority Today, 2 Weeks After Bihar Reversal

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The Bihar Grand Alliance has a combined strength of 163 (File)

Patna:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who parted ways with the BJP and formed a government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and other parties, including Congress earlier this month, will prove his majority in the state Assembly today.

Here are the top 5 latest updates on Nitish Kumar’s test of majority

With 164 MLAs supporting Nitish Kumar’s government, the test of majority has been reduced to a mere formality in the 243-member Bihar Assembly.
The Bihar Grand Alliance has a combined strength of 163. Its effective strength climbed to 164 after Sumit Kumar Singh extended his support to Nitish Kumar.
The house is likely to witness some stormy scenes as Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is a BJP MLA, has refused to step down despite a change in government. A no-confidence motion was moved against him soon after the grand alliance came to power.
The state government is understood to have agreed upon the name of veteran RJD leader Awadh Bihari Chaudhary as the new Speaker.
Ahead of the floor test, homes of two RJD leaders, Sunil Singh and Ashfaque Karim, were raided by the CBI in Patna this morning.
The test of majority comes days after Nitish Kumar expanded his cabinet, with the biggest chunk of seats going to alliance partner RJD. A total of 31 ministers were inducted into the cabinet on August 16. The RJD got 16 ministerial berths, followed by Mr Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) which kept 11.
From Congress, Afaque Alam and Murari Lal Gautam, were also inducted into the cabinet, while Santosh Suman was sworn in from Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha. The lone Independent MLA, Sumit Kumar Singh, also took oath as a cabinet minister
The Chief Minister kept Home Department, while his deputy Tejashwi Yadav got key portfolios like Health, Road Construction, Urban Development, Housing and Rural Development. Tejashwi Yadav’s brother Tej Pratap Yadav was named Bihar’s new Environment Minister.
Mr Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time on August 10, a day after breaking away from the BJP. His deputy Tejashwi Yadav was also sworn in the same day.
Sources said he felt that the BJP was attempting a repeat of the Maharashtra model – where the Uddhav Thackeray government was dismantled with the rebellion by senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde who is now the Chief Minister.