Bihar Assembly speaker voices disapproval of ugly spat between members

PATNA: Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha on Wednesday had a word of admonition for an incident of the previous day when two members of rival political groups hurled abuses at each other and virtually came to blows outside the House.

RJD MLA Bhai Virendra and BJP's Sanjay Saraogi had engaged in an ugly spat before the commencement of the day's proceedings when they were on camera, lined up by TV journalists to offer their take on some issue.

The speaker said "it was such an unfortunate episode. Yesterday was a rare day when this House conducted cent per cent business. Members could ask all their scheduled questions and the government replied to these. But, we are in the news for another regrettable reason".

He sought to remind the members that "reputation of this august House is at stake" and "we all are facing nothing short of a trial by fire (agni-pariksha)".

Comparing the membership of the legislature to "riding a tiger", Sinha warned that "if we let our guard down, the beast is going to devour us".

The speaker, who is himself a veteran BJP leader, also said, "I have been a member of this House for long. For me, all its members are like a family. As the head of this family, I urge you all, irrespective of whether you are in the opposition or the ruling dispensation, to refrain from making baseless allegations against each other which only tarnishes the reputation of this House".