3 Bihar opposition MLAs sit with ruling party members in assembly

Patna: In fresh trouble for Bihar's opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’, three MLAs of the Congress-RJD combine on Tuesday sat with the treasury members inside the state assembly.

The drama unfolded in the post-lunch session when RJD's Sangita Kumari, besides Murari Gautam and Siddharth Singh (both Congress), were seen entering the assembly behind Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who is also the state BJP president.

They sat on the ruling side, upon being signalled by Choudhary to do so, and legislators of the ruling NDA thumped their desks in approval.

The episode comes about a fortnight after three RJD MLAs deserted the party on a day its senior leader and former Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary got voted out in a no-confidence motion, and the new government headed by JD(U) President Nitish Kumar, with BJP as an ally, won the trust vote.

The RJD has baulked at seeking disqualification of Chetan Anand, Neelam Devi and Prahlad Yadav, none of whom has so far formally resigned from the party.

The latest development marks the first sign of rebellion within the Congress, which had packed off all but one of its 19 MLAs to Hyderabad ahead of the trust vote, fearing a split.

Siddharth Singh, who is said to be unhappy with the Congress' state leadership, had then refused to leave Bihar, citing prior engagements in his Bikram constituency.

Murari Gautam lost his cabinet berth last month as a result of Nitish Kumar's abrupt exit from the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and return to the NDA.