New Delhi: The newly-formed Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar on Wednesday, August 24, comfortably won the trust vote amid a walkout staged by BJP MLAs.The government was formed after Nitish Kumar walked out of his alliance with the BJP and joined hands with Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) a fortnight ago. Earlier in the day, the residences of several RJD leaders were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged ‘land-for-job’ scam.On Wednesday, Bihar assembly 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 shown support of the majority, the count would leave no room for any confusion.Altogether, 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against it.The lone MLA of AIMIM, Akhtarul Iman, whose party is not a part of the ruling alliance, also took part in the exercise and supported the confidence motion.Some of the BJP MLAs, who had staged a walkout while chief minister Nitish Kumar was delivering his speech, stormed the House demanding that the deputy speaker not waste time on a redundant headcount but take up businesses scheduled for the day and announced a boycott of the proceedings.Proceedings were, subsequently, adjourned until Friday by the deputy speaker who also informed the House that on Thursday nomination papers will be filed for the election of a new speaker. The post is vacant after BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha resigned.In his speech that lasted for about half an hour, Nitish Kumar made indirect references to the rebellion by LJP’s Chirag Paswan, allegedly at the BJP’s behest, and attempts to cause a split in JD(U) through his former protege R.C.P. Singh.Kumar asserted that he had “no personal ambitions”, rejecting the BJP’s charge that his latest volte-face was aimed at becoming the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition camp.He, nonetheless, spoke of his interactions with leaders from across the country whom he has urged to stay united for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.The JD(U) leader also recounted his old association with the BJP and underscored the contrast between the current dispensation and the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.Without mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi by name, he said the current dispensation does little except publicity (prachar prasar).As the BJP MLAs protested, he added, “Speak against me. Maybe this will earn you some rewards from your political bosses.”