Senior BJP leader Prem Kumar on Tuesday (December 2) was elected as the new Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Kumar, a prominent party face, won the Gaya Town seat for the ninth time in a row.
The Speaker's role holds significant weight, especially in a House where multiple major parties and power centres exist. The Speaker acts as the custodian of the Assembly, regulates proceedings, manages legislative business, and carries the crucial tie-breaking vote. In the previous Assembly, the post was held by BJP's Nand Kishore Yadav.
Who is Prem Kumar?
Seventy-year-old Prem Kumar is one of the senior-most leaders of the Bihar BJP. Belonging to the Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) community, he has now been elected to the Assembly from Gaya Town for the ninth consecutive term. In the recently concluded Bihar election, he defeated Congress candidate Akhaury Onkar Nath by 26,423 votes.
Prem Kumar previously served as Environment Minister and Cooperative Minister, in addition to holding several key portfolios in earlier NDA governments. Between 2015 and 2017, he served as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly when Nitish Kumar headed the then Mahagathbandhan government. He earned his PhD from Magadh University in 1999.
Bihar Assembly Session
The 18th Bihar Legislative Assembly convened its inaugural session on Monday, with newly elected MLAs taking their oath of office. Pro-tem Speaker Narendra Narayan Yadav administered the proceedings, allowing members to take the oath in Hindi, English, Urdu, Sanskrit, or Maithili.
Ministers from the Nitish Kumar cabinet were the first to be sworn in. Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, the Tarapur MLA, led the process, followed by Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha, who secured Lakhisarai for the fourth consecutive time. After the ministers, senior BJP legislator Prem Kumar seen as a frontrunner for the Speaker’s post took his oath, followed by Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. The ministers later greeted both the pro-tem Speaker and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is a member of the Legislative Council.
The assembly’s diversity was on full display as MLAs from across regions and parties took their oaths in various languages. Several legislators from Mithilanchal including Maithili folk singer Maithili Thakur, now the youngest MLA in Bihar’s history chose Maithili.
Members from AIMIM and the Seemanchal region opted for Urdu. Many from Mithilanchal also wore the traditional ‘Paag’, including Maithili Thakur, who said, “It is a very big day for me… This is the beginning of a new life.”
A few legislators, such as former Deputy CM Tarkishor Prasad and Sonbarsha MLA Ratnesh Sada, took their oath in Sanskrit, while two members Vishnu Deo Paswan (Darauli) and Rahul Kumar Singh (Dumraon) chose English. Osama Shahab, son of the late Mohammad Shahabuddin and winner from Raghunathpur, took his oath in Hindi.
In the newly constituted Assembly, the BJP holds the largest tally with 89 seats, followed by JD(U) with 84 and LJP-RV with 19. The RJD, which emerged as the single-largest party in 2020, has secured only 25 seats this time just enough to claim the LoP post. The NDA commands a strong majority with 202 members in the 243-seat House.
