BJP’s Vijay Sinha Elected as Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Vijay Sinha has been elected as the Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly.

(Photo: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Vijay Sinha has been elected as the Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, ANI reported on Wednesday, 25 November.

On Tuesday, the Grand Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had filed names of the candidates for the post of the Speaker in Bihar Assembly. The NDA nominated Sinha as their candidate, while the Grand Alliance announced RJD MLA Awadh Bihari Chaudhary as its candidate.

Sinha was a minister in the previous Nitish Kumar government. This is the first time since 2005 that the BJP has staked claim to the Speaker’s post in Bihar.

After filing their nominations on Tuesday, both Chaudhary, a six-time RJD MLA, and Sinha expressed confidence about having the required number of MLAs to win the election, Hindustan Times reported.

Ruckus in Bihar Assembly

Sinha’s election came on a day of ruckus in the Bihar Assembly as legislators of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) jumped into the well of the House, opposing voice vote for the election of the Speaker.

Complaining about the presence of CM Nitish Kumar, a Legislative Council member, RJD MLA Tejashwi Yadav said, "Rules should be followed during the election of the Speaker."

Pro tem Speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi countered Yadav’s claim, saying “Those from the other House aren’t voting for Speaker election, but there is no problem with them being present here.”

“In this very House, we have seen Lalu Yadav ji attend proceedings when he was a member of Lok Sabha and Rabri Devi ji was CM... There will be no secret voting,” Manjhi further said, according to ANI, as RJD MLAs opposed voice vote.

In the Bihar election results, which were announced on 10 November, the BJP won 74 seats and the Janata Dal (United) got 43.

The Winter Session of the 243-member Bihar Assembly will continue till 27 November.