NDA’s Sinha defeats RJD’s Choudhary in tight race for Bihar speaker

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Vijay Kumar Sinha was on Wednesday elected speaker of the 17th Bihar meeting by way of a majority vote amid a furore brought on by a viral audio tape through which Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad is purportedly attempting to affect a BJP member to abstain from the vote.

Sinha, the candidate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), polled 126 votes and RJDs Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, who was fielded by the opposition Mahagathbandhan, or Grand Alliance, received 114 votes within the House of 243 members.

Pro-tem speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi then urged chief minister Nitish Kumar and chief of the opposition Tejaswhi Prasd Yadav to escort Sinha to the speaker’s seat.

The election was overshadowed by the furore over an audio tape of a phone dialog through which Lalu Prasad, in a jail in Ranchi in reference to the embezzlement of funds meant for the acquisition of cattle fodder, is purportedly attempting to steer a BJP legislator to abstain from the vote. Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi shared the one-and-a-half-minute-long clip on his official Twitter deal with.

“We will take good care of you. Just help us tomorrow in defeating the NDA’s candidate for the speaker’s post,” the voice presupposed to be Prasad’s might be heard saying within the audio.tape of the dialog with Lalan Kumar, who mentioned he had accepted the decision from the RJD chief when he was in a gathering with Sushil Modi and handed over the audio tape to him later.

Bihar minister Mukesh Sahni, founding father of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), who broke his alliance with the RJD simply forward of the October-November elections and joined the NDA, mentioned on the ground of the House: “Those who make calls to MLAs with the intent to topple a government have no right to speak of democratic norms.”

RJD’s debutant MLA Mukesh Raushan mentioned: “You will see a big shakeup in March. This government will fall and Tejashwi Yadav will become the chief minister. Legislators from all parties are in touch with us. Just wait and watch.”

The speaker’s election didn’t lack drama both. As quickly because the House assembled and the pro-term speaker initiated the election course of, the opposition raised a ruckus, demanding a secret poll that Manjhi rejected on grounds that there was no provision for a secret poll on constitutional issues.

Manjhi known as for a voice vote on the movement for the speaker’s election and introduced his verdict in favour of the NDA candidate, however with each the ruling dispensation, comprising primarily the BJP and the Janata Dal (United), and the opposition (RJD, Congress and the Left), carefully matched, the distinction couldn’t be made out clearly. When the opposition objected, Manjhi known as for a division of votes.

Opposition events created one other ruckus, questioning the presence of chief minister Kumar within the House; Kumar is a member of the Bihar legislative council, the higher home of the bicameral legislature. Opposition members trooped into the effectively of the House in protest.

Manjhi mentioned solely the members of the House would take part within the vote, however the presence of the chief minister was in his capability of chief of the legislature and there was nothing unsuitable with him being within the House .

“I have been a member of the House for the last 40 years and there is nothing wrong with it,” he mentioned.

The opposition was unrelenting, Tejashvi Yadav mentioned: “They stole the mandate in 2015 and have again done it. Now, it is happening before the chair. It is a mockery of democracy.” Opposition members sat within the effectively of the House in protest.

Manjhi once more learn out the movement for election of Sinha because the speaker as soon as once more and requested these in favour to face as much as be counted. “If you have the numbers, go back to your seats and be counted. If you have the numbers, that will show,” he advised the opposition, adjourning the House for 5 minutes after the depend refused to fulfill the opposition. When the House reassembled, the pro-tem speaker once more ordered these in favour of Sinha’s election to face up and be counted.

Constitutional professional Subhash Kashyap mentioned that there was nothing unsuitable within the presence of the CM within the House and the ruling of the speaker was paramount. “Such things have happened in the past also, but this is the first time such a demand has been raised. The leader of the House can remain present in the House. It appears clearly a political move,” Kashyap mentioned.

(PTI contributed to this story)