Vijay Kumar Sinha was elected President of the 17th Vidhan Sabha in Bihar on Wednesday, becoming the first BJP leader to achieve the feat in the state. Sinha was elected amid the uproar by RJD members who questioned Prime Minister Nitish Kumar’s presence in the House. CM Kumar is a member of the Legislative Council.
While 126 votes were in favor of the motion for Sinha’s election, 114 were against. After that, Provisional President Jitan Ram Manjhi urged Prime Minister Nitish Kumar and opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav to escort Vijay Sinha to the presidency of the president.
It is the first time in Bihar since 2005 that the BJP has put forward its candidate for the position of Spokesperson, on previous occasions it was pocketed by its ally JD (U). The JD (U) won only 43 seats in the recently concluded elections, while the BJP emerged as the second largest party with 74 seats.
As soon as the House convened and Manjhi started the election procedure, the opposition created an uproar demanding a secret ballot. However, Manjhi rejected the claim, saying there was no secret ballot provision on constitutional matters. The RJD had nominated Awadh Bihari Choudhary as a Grand Alliance (GA) candidate for the position of Spokesperson.
Manjhi called for a voice vote on the motion for Spokesperson election and announced the verdict in favor of the NDA candidate, but with Opposition numbers and treasury seats quite close, the difference was not clear. The opposition objected and Manjhi, accepting the objection, called for division.
However, the opposition again created an uproar, questioning the presence of Prime Minister Nitish Kumar in the House, as he was not a member of Vidhan Sabha.
Manjhi said that only members of the House would participate in the vote, but the presence of the prime minister was in the capacity of the leader of the House and there was nothing wrong with that. “I have been a member of the House for the last 40 years and there is nothing wrong with it,” he said, asking the minister for parliamentary affairs, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, to clarify the rules.
Choudhary, who was the Speaker at the 16th Vidhan Sabha, said that it had been an established tradition of the House for the CM to remain present in the House even during the vote without participation. “He will not participate in the vote, but there is nothing wrong with his presence. This is an unnecessary issue and the opposition knows it too. Many times in the past, the CM has been present in the Chamber during the vote, but did not vote, ”he added.
In the past, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been seen sitting in the Lok Sabha during the vote even though he was a member of the Rajya Sabha.
However, the opposition was relentless as it continued to shout slogans, demanding that the CM, as well as two other ministers, Ashok Choudhary and Mukesh Sahni, be removed from the House during the vote despite Manjhi’s continued insistence that Kumar He was present as the leader of the house only. Choudhary and Sahni are not members of either House at present.
The opposition leader, however, said that the rules were being violated in the presence of the pro-tem president. “They stole the mandate in 2015 and have done it again. Now, it is happening before the chair. It is a mockery of democracy, ”he added, while the opponents sat on the well.
Amid the din, with the opposition indifferent, Manjhi reread the motion for the election of Sinha as Speaker once more and asked those in favor to stand up to count. “His interruption is pointless and clearly shows that he has some weakness and is trying to stop the proceedings. If you have the numbers, go back to your seats and get counted. If you have the numbers, that will show up. I have clearly said that those who are not members of the House would not vote, but could remain present, “he added.
Despite counting those in favor of the motion for Sinha’s election, the Opposition remained impassive, ignoring repeated requests from the Presidency to return to their seats. Later, Manjhi adjourned the House for five minutes.
As soon as the House met again, Ajit Sharma urged the Presidency for an attendance record, as some outside members were also present, but Manjhi rejected it and ordered those in favor of the motion to stand. one more time to count. Tejashwi Yadav tried to question the presence of the CM, but Manjhi reiterated that he was there as the leader of the House.
Later, the Speaker asked those who were against the motion to stand up to count. After the count, the Opposition went back into the well, shouting slogans. Manjhi urged members of the opposition to return to their seats to announce the results.
Constitution expert Subhash Kashyap also said later that there was nothing wrong with the CM’s presence in the House and that the president’s decision was paramount. “Such things have also happened in the past, but this is the first time such a lawsuit has been raised. The leader of the Chamber may remain present in the Chamber. It clearly seems like a political movement, ”Kashyap added.
The NDA has 125 members and is supported by a single, independent member of the LJP. The RJD, with 110 members, expected the “vote of conscience” to tip the balance in its favor. AIMIM’s position that the President should be a unanimous election also clouded the prospects for the opposition alliance.
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