The newly-formed "Mahagathbandhan" government in Bihar on Wednesday comfortably won the motion of confidence amid a walkout staged by MLAs of the BJP which was stripped of power as a result of the recent political upheaval in the state.
Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari ordered a headcount upon a request by Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the parliamentary affairs minister, who said that though a voice vote had clearly showed support of the majority, voting would "leave no room for any ambiguity ".
As per the headcount, 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same.
Hours before the trust vote, the homes of several RJD leaders, Sunil Singh, Subodh Rai, Dr Faiyaz Ahmad and Ashfaque Karim, were raided by the CBI in Patna in connection with a "land-for-jobs" scam dating back to party chief Lalu Yadav's tenure as Union Railway minister in the UPA-I government.
The assembly session started with Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, a BJP MLA, stepping down from his post. A no-confidence motion was moved against him soon after the "Mahagatbandhan" or grand alliance came to power.