Patna:
Nitish Kumar won a trust vote comfortably today, ensuring he will remain Chief Minister of Bihar. The Congress voted for him, but both sides denied that this portents a new alliance. "There has been no discussion about the future," Mr Kumar said.
The BJP, with who Mr Kumar ended a 17-year alliance with on Sunday over its decision to place
Narendra Modi in charge of its election campaign, decided to boycott the vote today, partly to escape the embarrassing likelihood of some of its members supporting the Chief Minister. (
Read: In speech, Nitish Kumar strikes at Narendra Modi)
Mr Kumar landed 126 votes; his party, the Janata Dal United or JD(U), provided 117 of those. The Congress and independent legislators accounted for the rest.
22 of the 24 votes against him were courtesy the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the party headed by former chief minister Lalu Yadav.
The Congress and Mr Kumar, like other detractors of Narendra Modi, accuse him of being a "divisive" leader. Mr Modi was at the helm when riots lacerated Gujarat in 2002, leaving hundreds of Muslims dead. Mr Modi and the BJP have rejected charges that he didn't do enough to protect them.
Congress leader PC Chacko said, "We did not want communal forces to succeed; that is why we supported Nitish Kumar's government in the Bihar Assembly today."
For all the demurrals, there has been considerable sweet talk of late.
On Monday, the Prime Minister praised the Chief Minister as "a secular leader." Mr Kumar said the compliment brought him "peace of mind."