Bihar: RJD MLA walks over to NDA, Cong legislator says she could follow suit

Following the recent spate of defections, the NDA has come to enjoy the support of 135 MLAs in the 243-member assembly.

Defection woes continued to rattle the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar on Friday, with an RJD MLA sitting beside the ruling NDA members, and a Congress legislator declaring that she would join the BJP if a Lok Sabha ticket was on offer.

Trouble continued for the opposition grand alliance on the final day of the budget session, which had begun on an ominous note with three RJD MLAs backing NDA's no-confidence motion against its own leader and the then Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, besides voting in favour of the Nitish Kumar government during a trust vote.

As the House assembled for the session, RJD MLA Bharat Bind was seen entering the premises with Deputy Chief Minister and state BJP president Samrat Choudhary.

Bind, who represents Bhabua in Kaimur district, rentered the House with Murari Gautam, a former minister who had turned his back on Congress a couple of days ago, and the two sat together.

Around the same time, Nitu Kumari, the sitting Congess MLA from Hisua in Nawada, turned up at the assembly after remaining absent for several days.

Responding to queries from journalists about speculations that she was unhappy with her party leadership, she said, ''I want the Lok Sabha ticket from Nawada. If Congress fields me, I am fine. If it does not, and the BJP comes with the offer of a ticket, I will join that party''.

The developments came on the final day of the budget session, when the House was through with legislative business and taking up private members' bills.

Earlier, RJD MLAs Chetan Anand, Neelam Devi and Prahlad Yadav had switched over to the ruling side, voting against Chaudhary in a no-confidence motion, and supporting the NDA in the trust vote.

Besides, on Wednesday, RJD MLA Sangita Kumari, along with Murari Gautam and Siddharth Saurav of the Congress, were felicitated inside the premises by Samrat Choudhary, whom they followed into the assembly hall and, amid thumping of desks in approval by NDA members, sat beside the ruling coalition MLAs.

However, the two Congress MLAs' disqualification has been sought by the party, which has called them ''traitors''.

The RJD has also said it will approach the Speaker, seeking disqualification of its turncoats, while warning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U) and returned to NDA only last month, that the BJP was now carrying out the proverbial ''operation lotus'' in Bihar.

The BJP has, meanwhile, maintained that it had no role in the defections and MLAs were quitting the Congress and RJD out of disgust with a ''dynastic leadership''. Following the recent spate of defections, the NDA has come to enjoy the support of 135 MLAs in the 243-member assembly.