The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar on Tuesday fielded five-time Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Awadh Bihari Choudhury as its candidate for the post of Assembly Speaker. The election for the Speaker’s post is due on Wednesday.
Choudhury, an MLA from Siwan, is directly pitted against National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and three-time BJP MLA Vijay Kumar Sinha.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday said Choudhury has filed his nomination for the Speaker’s post on behalf of the Opposition Grand Alliance. Confident of Choudhury’s victory, he said that the post of Speaker in the Legislative Assembly is an eminent and responsible post held by a leader who can take the ruling party and the Opposition along and listen to the views of all party leaders. The Speaker’s chair must be held by someone who has immense political experience, Tejashwi added.
Asked about seeking support from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Tejashwi said he would appeal to all the Opposition MLAs to vote for a veteran leader as Speaker of the Assembly. The RJD leader said Choudhury became an MLA for the first time in 1985 and has been elected an MLA five times.
Choudhury said the Grand Alliance has nominated him as the candidate for the post of Assembly Speaker. The Siwan MLA assured all the MLAs that if elected as Speaker he would run the House following all rules and perform his task without any prejudice.
Meanwhile NDA candidate Vijay Sinha said that normally the post of Speaker goes to the ruling party as it has the majority in the House. “The post of Speaker is elected with mutual understanding of ruling and opposition parties and it is based on numbers. Our alliance has projected me on the basis of seniority and we are fully confident about it,” Sinha said.
Tarkishore Prasad, the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and BJP leader said: “We have the numbers to elect the Speaker in the House and we will prove our majority. Traditionally, it goes to the ruling alliance.”
Meanwhile, the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav urged pro-tem Speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi to conduct the oath-taking ceremony of every candidate of his alliance.
Yadav was hinting at Bahubali MLA Anant Singh of the RJD and Amarjeet Kushwaha of the CPI (ML). The former was elected from Mokama and is currently lodged in jail. Kushwaha has been elected from Ziradei and is lodged in Siwan jail. Both of them are facing criminal charges.
The opposition Mahagathbandhan has 110 seats in the Assembly and there is reportedly a big chance of 5 AIMIM, 1 BSP and one independent candidate voting in its favour. The ruling NDA has 125 seats. In such a situation every vote is important for both the sides.
With IANS inputs