Two questions about Nitish’s trust vote: Floor crossing not without reason
Why did Neelam Devi, Chetan Anand and Prahlad Yadav support the NDA in Nitish Kumar's floor test? Why did JD(U) MLA Dilip Ray not support the NDA?
Nitish Kumar, who switched coalition partners and returned to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, won a trust vote conducted earlier this week, but with tensions mounting over the outcome in both camps, the threat of “khela” loomed large till the very last minute. Khela, a term coined by Mamata Banerjee during the West Bengal assembly polls in 2021, was used by Tejashwi Yadav after Nitish Kumar crossed over to NDA on January 28. He said, "Khela ab hoga," which meant that his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) would not allow Nitish to have a smooth floor test. In the end, Nitish won 129 votes and sailed through the floor test to re-form the government with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In the end, it was three MLAs of the RJD (and former Nitish’s Janata Dal-United ally) who made the floor test a smooth affair for Nitish.
Chetan Anand is a first-time MLA from Sheohar; Neelam Devi is an MLA from Mokama and was elected after her husband, don-turned-politician Anant Singh’s membership was terminated; Prahlad Singh, a three-time MLA from Suryagarha, was a founder-member of the RJD and won his first assembly election in 1995.
Their support was not without rhyme or reason.
Anand is the son of former MP Anand Mohan who was convicted in the 1994 murder of IAS officer G Krishnaiah and was serving a life sentence in the case, when he was released from jail after the Nitish Kumar government tweaked the prison rules on April 10, 2023.
In October last year, the CM went to Anand Mohan’s native village, Panchgachia in Saharsa district to unveil the statue of Ram Bahadur Singh, a freedom fighter and Anand Mohan’s late father.
Recently, Chetan Anand vented his anger at party MP Manoj Jha, who read out a poem in the Rajya Sabha, which used the word “Thakur” as a metaphor for the oppressor class. Jha was speaking during the debate on the women’s reservation bill. “Thakur” is used interchangeably with Rajput, the community Anand — and Chetan—Mohan hail from.
The proximity between Nitish and Anand Mohan, a former Lok Sabha member from Sheohar, is decades old. In 1995, Mohan merged his Bihar People’s Party with Kumar’s Samata Party.
Nitish Kumar’s apparent closeness with Anand Mohan — the CM even attended a function at the former MP’s Patna home before the remission of his sentence — is viewed by many as the CM’s attempts to consolidate his support base among the Rajputs.
Thus, when the RJD MLAs gathered at Tejashwi Yadav’s residence starting February 10 — in preparation for the trust vote — Chetan Anand’s brother Anshuman filed a complaint with the police that his family was not able to reach him. The police swung into action and Anand was able to leave Yadav’s place around 2 am.
“Everyone was called to Tejashwi Yadav's residence for a meeting, but it was not known that they would have to stay inside. I asked them to let me go as my family was worried," said Chetan Anand.
Neelam Devi is the wife of Mokama bahubali and former MLA Anant Singh. She was elected as Mokama MLA on an RJD ticket in a 2022 by-poll necessitated by the conviction of her husband. Though she represented the RJD in the house, she was known for her inclination towards the NDA.
Neelam Devi unsuccessfully contested the Munger Lok Sabha seat in 2019 as a Congress candidate, losing to JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh. Anant Singh, in JD(U), was close to Nitish. Hailing from the dominant Bhumihar group, Anant Singh can also further JD (U)’s cause from the Munger Lok Sabha seat.
Suryagarha MLA Prahlad Yadav, a founder member of the RJD, felt neglected in his party like many old warhorses. The five-time MLA voted for the Nitish government due to his cordial relations with the senior JD(U) leader, people in the know said. Yadav, who has been in the sand business for a long time, began his political career with the Communist Party of India after winning his first election as an Independent in 1995. He joined the RJD in 2000.
Dilip Ray, the JD(U) MLA from Sursand, did not turn up on voting day. Before becoming an MLA, he was an RJD MLC in the Legislative Council. He remained traceless on the day of voting — and thus failed to cast his vote for his party and CM — but appeared on Tuesday and sat with the JD (U) MLAs during the budget presentation. He did not interact with the media nor are any of the JD(U) leaders commenting on his absence.
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