A key aide to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claimed on Wednesday that the newly formed NDA government in the state will win the confidence vote and defeat the “malicious intentions of fearful critics”. The NDA government in Bihar is scheduled to face a confidence vote on February 12.

Senior JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, who has been retained as the new cabinet minister, told PTI in an interview: “The NDA government will easily win the vote of confidence. It’s simple… we (NDA) have the majority. “Those who are afraid of NDA ‘s (opposition leader) is spreading rumors about the confidence vote. Their intentions are malicious. I am sincere in saying that the NDA government in the state will win the vote of confidence,” said Chaudhary, a close confidant of the CM.

Chaudhry has been a member of the Bihar Assembly since 1982 and currently heads six departments, including the Parliamentary Affairs Department. “Floor testing is basically a numbers game…we have numbers. Those talking about ‘khela’ (game) have nothing to show (numbers)…their claims are false and misleading,” he added .

The newly formed NDA government will face a vote of confidence on February 12 at the beginning of the budget session of Parliament. The Nitish Kumar-led government has a majority with 128 members supporting the BJP-JD(U) alliance.

The Bihar Assembly has 243 members, of which the magic number for majority is 122. After the withdrawal of JD(U), the strength of the grand alliance was reduced to 114 people. One member of AIMIM did not support the alliance.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)