The Bihar Grand Alliance wants Legislative Council Chairman Awadesh Narayan Singh to quit
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expects Legislative Council Chairman Awadesh Narayan Singh, who is from the BJP, to quit on his own after 55 MLAs of the new Grand Alliance moved a no-confidence motion against Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha.
Nitish Kumar has, for long, wanted Mr Sinha to step down. The Chief Minister had lost his temper more than once at Mr Sinha, who he has accused of openly violating the Constitution by raising questions against his government when it was in an alliance with the BJP.
The Chief Minister's ties with Awadesh Narayan Singh of the BJP, however, are cordial, and so leaders of Mr Kumar's Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) are in talks with him to convince him to resign instead of having to face a no-confidence motion, sources have said.
The Grand Alliance is of the view that Mr Singh continuing as the Legislative Council Chairman would send a wrong signal since a new non-BJP government is in power now, sources said.
The Bihar assembly Speaker is in Delhi to discuss the situation with the BJP leadership on whether to resign or face the no-confidence motion.
Ties between the Chief Minister and the Speaker soured a long time ago. Mr Kumar had repeatedly asked the BJP to remove him when the JD(U) and BJP were allies in Bihar.
As for the no-confidence motion against Mr Sinha, rules say it can be taken up in the house only after two weeks of submission. The first Bihar assembly session after Mr Kumar took a fresh oath as Chief Minister is set to be from August 24, which means the no-confidence motion rule won't be an issue.
The Grand Alliance 2.0 has support of 164 MLAs, several more than the 122 needed in the house of 243. The no-risk plan is straightforward - before Mr Kumar faces a trust vote on August 25, Mr Sinha could be removed with the no-confidence vote, and a new Speaker elected on the first day of the session.
Meanwhile, in an interaction with reporters today, Mr Kumar was asked about reports over his prime ministerial ambitions. "I don't have any such thing in my mind. I will try to ensure all alliance partners work together and cooperate," Mr Kumar said on whether he would project himself as a prime ministerial candidate in the national elections. On opposition unity, he said, "We are getting calls from many people. Something is in the works. It will happen soon."