Amid Opposition ruckus, BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha elected Bihar Speaker

Showing the rulebook to Protem Speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that rules should be followed during the election of the Speaker. However, Manjhi said that there will be no secret voting in the House.

“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,” Manji said. He also added: “Those from other House aren’t voting for Speaker election. No problem in their presence.”

This is the first time a BJP legislator occupied the Speaker’s post in the Bihar Assembly. Since 2005 polls, a JD(U) member has always occupied the Speaker seat. While the party’s Uday Narayan Choudhary was Speaker for two terms (2005-2010 and 2010-2015), Vijay Kumar Choudhary was the Speaker between 2015 and 2020.

Though the names of BJP veterans Nand Kishore Yadav and Prem Kumar, both ministers in the previous government, had been doing rounds, top BJP leaders decided to maintain social balance in representation of key posts and chose Sinha, a four-time Lakhisarai MLA from the upper caste Bhumihar community.