Days After Nitish Kumar's Outburst, A Win For Bihar Speaker, BJP

Nitish Kumar gave in to Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha of the BJP, signing off on the transfer of a senior police officer.

Four days after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his temper in the assembly and accused the Speaker of "openly violating" the constitution over a run-in with some police officers, the BJP leader appeared to have scored the last laugh.

The junior partner in the alliance with the BJP, Nitish Kumar on Friday signed off on the transfer of a senior police officer from Lakhisarai who had displeased Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha of the BJP.

The move appears to have laid bare what many knew already, that Mr Kumar may be Chief Minister, but when it comes to the government, it is the BJP that is calling the shots, even leaders in his party, the Janata Dal-United (JDU), concede privately.

Several BJP leaders too, on the condition of anonymity, said that the message was clear: If Nitish Kumar wants to retain the chair of Chief Minister, he can't get away by insulting a senior leader, especially someone armoured with a constitutional post like a Speaker.