PATNA: Pandemonium prevailed in the Bihar Assembly for the second consecutive day on Wednesday even as Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha reached the House to conduct the proceedings.
Sinha had abstained from the proceedings on Tuesday following a heated exchange with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday over the investigation into the Lakhisarai prohibition incident.
Nitish, too, hadn’t attended the proceedings on Tuesday.
As soon as the Assembly started the business for the day at around 11am, the opposition MLAs created a noisy scene inside the House demanding apology from the CM for “lowering the dignity of the Chair” and “insulting” the Speaker.
The Speaker first adjourned the House till 2pm and then from 2pm to 4.30pm due to the ruckus. When the House assembled for post-lunch session, the MLAs of the Left parties trooped into the Well and shouted slogans against the chief minister, who was away in his home district Nalanda.
The Speaker was seen pleading with the MLAs to take their seats and telling them that only two days were left for Holi vacation.
Earlier, Sinha informed the members that the chief minister told him on Tuesday he neither intended to lower the dignity of the Chair nor hurt him (Speaker).
“Let the ‘kala adhyay (dark chapter)’ be closed and the business restarted,” Sinha was heard as telling the members. On Tuesday, Nitish along with deputy CMs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, both from the BJP, had met Sinha to end the stalemate.
“We want to know what agreement has been reached between the chief minister and the Speaker following Monday’s incident. After all, the ruling coalition has to run the government,” former chief minister Rabri Devi said.
Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said what happened in the House on Monday had “never been witnessed in the history of Bihar”.
“It reflected that the democratic set up is under threat,” he added.
He claimed that a sense of political instability prevailed in Bihar. “The two major constituents of the ruling dispensation are fighting with each other, which shows all is not well within the NDA,” he said.