Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lashed out at opposition MLAs on Friday for donning black shirts inside the Assembly as a sign of protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The protest sparked a strong reaction from the longest-serving CM of the state, who voiced his frustration on the concluding day of the monsoon session.
This session also happens to be the last sitting of the current assembly before the state heads into elections, which are expected to be announced in the coming months. As soon as Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav began the Question Hour proceedings, Opposition legislators stood up, shouting slogans and disrupting the session, continuing their vehement opposition to the SIR exercise that has dominated discussions and led to repeated clashes in the house.
The charged atmosphere reflected the deep political divide over the electoral roll revision, with the opposition accusing the government of using the exercise for political gain, a charge the ruling coalition has repeatedly denied.
Speaker tries to calm the House
Yadav remarked, in jest, "It is raining today. The weather is cool. Why are you people getting heated? Allow the House to function. This is the last day."
Soon afterwards, the Chief Minister rose in his chair and said, "These people who are making so much noise understand nothing about legislative business.
They have never done anything worthwhile."
CM questions Opposition's intentions
When some of the Opposition members protested, the 75-year-old Leader of the House retorted, "Why on earth are you wearing black clothes? I have been seeing you people do so for the last few days. Have you ever done so before?". Interestingly, quite a few MLAs of Kumar's JD(U) and his ally BJP had come to the House wearing helmets, claiming that they feared getting hit by the unruly opposition members.
House adjourned amid ruckus
The Speaker pleaded with the Opposition members, some of whom had by the time entered the well, to behave themselves, pointing out that some school children had been invited to watch the proceedings of the House. However, some of the opposition members continued creating a ruckus, and tried to overturn furniture meant for the reporting staff. Subsequently, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm, within minutes of the commencement of proceedings.
(With PTI inputs)
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