Speaker, From BJP, Quits Ahead Of Nitish Kumar's Test Of Strength: 10 Facts

Bihar Assembly Floor Test: The Bihar Grand Alliance has a combined strength of 163

Patna: Nitish Kumar, who ended his alliance with the BJP in Bihar and formed a government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other parties earlier this month, faces a test of his majority today. Hours before the vote, the CBI raided several RJD leaders

Here are the top 10 latest updates on Nitish Kumar's floor test

The assembly session started with Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, a BJP MLA, stepping down from his post. A no-confidence motion was moved against him soon after the "Mahagatbandhan" or grand alliance came to power. Mr Sinha, who had refused to resign earlier citing unfounded claims, said he wanted to respond to the allegations before stepping down.
The floor test is now being chaired by Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari, who is from the Janata Dal (United). The house witnessed stormy scenes as BJP leaders attacked Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav. The two were reminded of their remarks against each other after 'Mahagathbandhan 1' had collapsed.
Hours before the trust vote, the homes of several RJD leaders, Sunil Singh, Subodh Rai, Dr Faiyaz Ahmad and Ashfaque Karim, were raided by the CBI in Patna in connection with a "land-for-jobs" scam dating back to party chief Lalu Yadav's tenure as Union Railway minister in the UPA-I government.
On being asked about the CBI raids, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said they will respond in the assembly, while his party MP Manoj Jha said it was predictable and alleged the raids were carried out at the behest of the BJP.
RJD leader and Lalu Yadav's wife Rabri Devi said no raids could scare the 'Mahagathbandhan' government. "All parties are with us except BJP. We have the majority here in the state and we will not be scared," she said.
With 164 MLAs supporting Nitish Kumar's government in the 243-member Bihar assembly, the test of majority is mostly a formality. The current strength of the assembly is 241 and any party or alliance needs the support of 121 MLAs for a majority.
The test of majority comes days after Nitish Kumar expanded his cabinet, with the biggest chunk of seats going to alliance partner RJD. Of the 31 ministers in the cabinet, the RJD has 16, followed by Nitish Kumar's JD(U) which kept 11.
Two Congress leaders and a leader of Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha have also become ministers. A lone Independent MLA, Sumit Kumar Singh, also took oath as a cabinet minister.
The Chief Minister kept the Home Department while his deputy Tejashwi Yadav got key portfolios like Health, Road Construction, Urban Development, Housing and Rural Development. Tejashwi Yadav's brother Tej Pratap Yadav was named Bihar's new Environment Minister.
Mr Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time on August 10, a day after breaking away from the BJP. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav became his Deputy. Sources said Mr Kumar had feared the BJP was plotting a repeat of the Maharashtra model - where the Uddhav Thackeray government was dismantled by the rebellion by senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde who is now the Chief Minister.