Bihar CM Nitish Kumar wins Floor Test

February 13, 2024

In January 2023, the ruling Mahagathbandhan alliance between Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress ended in Bihar. Kumar then formed an alliance with BJP, resigned as Chief Minister, and took oath again with new allies. This prompted a floor test in the Bihar Legislative Assembly on February 12, 2023 to determine if Kumar’s new government had the confidence of the House.

Floor Test

A floor test, also called a trust vote, is conducted in legislative bodies to determine if the government in power has lost its majority. Members vote on a motion moved by the Chief Minister seeking their confidence. If the majority vote in favor, the government survives.

Voting can be done by voice, electronic buttons, physical ballots, or slips. The CM has to resign if he loses the trust vote showing he has lost the confidence of the House. Governors can also call for a floor test if the majority is unclear.

Bihar Floor Test

In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, a majority requires at least 122 seats. The new NDA claimed support of 128 MLAs while Mahagathbandhan strength was down to 114. Nitish Kumar won the February 12 floor test comfortably, proving the Bihar legislators’ faith in his new alliance government with BJP.

Important Terms

Composite Floor Test

A composite floor test takes place when two motions of confidence are tested in the assembly at the same time. This happened in Karnataka in 2019 when the confidence of the government and choice of the Chief Minister were voted on together.

Secret Ballot

While voting for confidence motions is usually done openly, the Speaker has the discretion to order a secret ballot where votes are cast anonymously. This was done during the 1993 confidence vote of the PV Narasimha Rao government.

Whip

A whip is an instruction issued by a political party directing its legislators to be present and vote in a certain manner for motions like confidence votes and no-confidence motions. Disobeying a whip can lead to disqualification of legislators.

Conscience Vote

A conscience vote allows legislators to vote based on their personal opinions rather than toeing the party line. These are rarely permitted for confidence votes as they challenge party discipline.

Voice Spectrograph

A voice spectrograph is a forensic technique that uses sound frequencies to analyze the audio recordings of a voice vote and determine if the “Ayes” or “Noes” were louder to accurately ascertain the outcome. This may be used if a voice vote seems unclear or disputed.

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