Bihar

In the meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish Kumar passed a proposal to call a special session of the Assembly on August 24 - for him to prove his majority - and the Legislative Council on August 25. Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan has been intimated of the proposal and his approval is awaited. Leaders of the Mahagathbandhan also brought in a no-confidence motion against Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, of the BJP.

When Nitish Kumar was in a coalition with the NDA, his government's strength in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha was 128 with the BJP having 74 seats after 2020 assembly elections apart from 4 seats of the VIP and 4 seats of HAM. Parties like the VIP and HAM were in the role of king makers in that government as 122 seats are required for the majority number.

Vijay Kumar Sinha has to prove the majority inside the Assembly to retain his position as Speaker. If he does not have the adequate numbers, he will have to step down from the post and resign. If Vijay Kumar Sinha will challenge the no-confidence motion, then he will have to prove the majority in the Vidhan Sabha.

Soon after the JD(U)-BJP split, a police official pasted "former" against the name plate of deputy chief minister Tar Kishore Prasad. According to sources, the new government will go hard on BJP leaders and workers if they caught on the wrong sie of the law.

The swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar is scheduled at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Rajendra Mandapam inside Raj Bhavan. Besides him, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will also take the oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Nitish Kumar wants to take the oath on Wednesday afternoon as it will be a "Shubh Muhurat" (auspicious day). Wednesday is a "Purnima" of the ongoing Sawan month, which is of great importance in Hindu tradition.

"BJP national President J.P. Nadda said that his party will destroy regional parties in Bihar. Bihar is a birthplace of democracy and the BJP President said that his party will destroy democracy. The people of Bihar cannot tolerate this. Today's development is an appropriate response to it," he said during a joint press meet with Nitish Kumar, who submitted his resignation as Chief Minister to stake claim to form a new government.

The BJP, which was on Tuesday checkmated by Nitish Kumar's JD(U), its oldest ally in the state, didn't even get the time for damage control. Nitish Kumar now has the support letter signed by all the MLAs of the seven-party 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance), including one Independent member. The plan was to deny the BJP the opportunity to stake counter claims.

He was accompanied by JD-U national President Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. "We have had discussions with every MLA, MLCs and MP of the party before I resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Bihar. Our party JD-U has also come out from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)," he said. "During the meeting with Governor Phagu Chauhan, we have also claimed to form a new government with the help of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. I have also submitted the list of MLAs to him," he added.

Referring to RJD symbol with the Bhojpuri song on her handle, Lalu Prasad's daughter Rohini Acharya tweeted, "Prepare for the coronation, the lantern carriers are coming." The song has been sung by Bhojpuri singer Khesari Lal Yadav that was released before the Bihar Legislative Council elections. The song has some lines that calls RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to become Bihar's leader. "Tejashwi ke bina sudhaar na hoyi (There can be no progress without Tejashwi)."

"The BJP was conspiring against JD-U and trying to weaken Nitish Kumar. BJP did the same in Maharashtra and Punjab and it was doing the same in Bihar to destroy the JD-U. He took the bold decision and left the NDA," Tejashwi said after returning from Raj Bhavan with Nitish Kumar and other leaders of the Mahagathbandhan, where they staked a claim to form a government.