Ruckus in Bihar Assembly, Opposition demands apology from CM

Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha did not attend Budget session a day after sparring with Nitish Kumar

A day after the Bihar State Assembly witnessed sparring between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday demanded an apology from Mr. Kumar while Mr. Sinha did not attend the Assembly. Mr. Kumar, too, was not present at the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly.

When the Assembly was convened and the Speaker abstained, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and MLA from Gaya, Prem Kumar, was in the Chair. RJD leaders, wearing black badges on their sleeves, came into the Well of the House and started protesting against Mr. Kumar’s “improper conduct” against Mr. Sinha on Monday. They shouted “ Loktantra ki hatya band karo” (stop killing democracy) and “Mukhyamantri maafi maango” (CM, apologise). Mr. Kumar was away in Maner, offering prayers at Manersharief for “love, peace and harmony in society”.

Mr. Kumar’s close aide and a Minister in his Cabinet, Vijay Kumar Choudhury, tried to pacify the protesting RJD legislators. “The Chief Minister did not say anything unparliamentarily. Whatever he said, he said with folded hands and whatever is in the Constitution,” Mr. Choudhary said.

But Opposition members continued protesting. The House was adjourned twice. Later, RJD members came out of the House and continued their protest. “He [Mr. Kumar] must apologise or resign from his post,” demanded senior RJD leader and party spokesperson Bhai Birendra.

Late in the evening on March 14, after the heated exchange with the Speaker, the Chief Minister had met Governor Phagu Chauhan at the Raj Bhavan over what was described as a “courtesy call”. Political observers felt too much need not be read into the incident as Mr. Kumar is an astute politician and may assuage ruffled feathers. “Both the ruling alliance partners, the BJP and the JD-U (Janata Dal-United), need each other to be in power, at least till the 2024 Parliamentary poll,” political analyst Ajay Kumar said.