FILE: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (Agence France-Presse photo)
The ruling Janata Dal (United) and its ally RJD have issued whips to their legislators to vote in support of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to help him prove his majority in the Bihar legislative assembly today.
JD(U) chief whip Sharavan Kumar, who is also the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said the whip was also applicable to party rebels led by former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
"Any legislator found voting against the whip will lose membership of the state assembly," Mr Sharavan told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Kumar will seek a vote of confidence in the assembly today, 17 days after he was sworn in as chief minister.
The JD(U)'s ally, Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad also issued a whip to its legislators to vote for Mr Kumar.
"The RJD has issued whip to its legislators to support Nitish Kumar to ensure that he smoothly proves his majority in the assembly," RJD legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui told the media.
Mr Siddiqui said the RJD was firmly behind Nitish Kumar to counter the BJP.
On Tuesday, Jitan Ram Manjhi held a closed-door meeting with nearly a dozen legislators considered loyal to him to discuss the situation in view of the whip issued by the JD(U).
"We discussed this issue and will take the right decision," said former minister Brishen Patel, considered close to Mr Manjhi.
The JD(U) has the support of its allies - the RJD, Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI).
Nitish Kumar had resigned as chief minister last year after the JD(U)'s rout in the Lok Sabha polls. Mr Manjhi, who was made chief minister in May 2014, resigned on February 20 this year after a political crisis.
In the 243-member assembly, the JD(U) has 115 legislators. The party has the support of 24 RJD legislators, five Congress MLAs, two independents and a CPI member.
The BJP has 88 legislators and is supported by three independents.
BJP legislators also met on Tuesday to finalise the party's strategy for the budget session of the Bihar assembly that begins today.