Bihar Governor Phagu Chouhan on Thursday handed the oath to former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi as interim president of the 17th state assembly, which will convene its inaugural session from 23 November.
Elected from the constituency of the Imamganj assembly, Manjhi has been appointed interim president for two days (23-24 November) until the president of the Bihar Legislative Assembly is elected.
Manjhi, who began his political journey from Congress, has been a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly since 1980. He has been associated with all the major parties in the state until he launched his own party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) – Secular in 2015. He also served as Chief Minister of Bihar from May 20, 2014 to February 20, 2015.
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At the 16th Legislative Assembly of Bihar, the veteran leader of Congress, Sadanand Singh, had been sworn in as Acting President by the then Governor and current President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
A pro-temporary Speaker is selected from among the highest ranking members of the Assembly.
In the first two days, the interim president will administer the oath to the 243 newly elected members of the Bihar Assembly. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the session will be held in the Central Hall with seating arrangements following the rules of social distancing for members.
On the third day of the session, there will be the election of the Spokesperson, while the Governor’s speech in the joint session of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Bihar Legislative Council will be on the fourth day, followed by discussion, government response and thank you movement.
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On the last day he will take over the supplementary government budget.
After the joint session, the Bihar Legislative Council session will be held in the Bihar assembly to uphold the rules of social distancing.
Bihar is one of seven states that have a bicameral legislature, both the lower house (Assembly) and the upper house (Council).
In the new Assembly, RJD is the largest party with 75 members, while the Grand Alliance has 110 seats. The NDA has 125 seats, including 74 members of the BJP. An independent candidate has also extended his support for the NDA alliance.
There are seven others, including five members of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the newly elected Assembly of Bihar.
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