Prem Kumar has been unanimously elected as the 18th Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. He also received support from Opposition MLAs. Prem Kumar had filed his nomination for the post yesterday. He was the only candidate for the position, so his unopposed election was considered certain.
After Vijay Kumar Sinha and Nandkishore Yadav, Prem Kumar has become the third Speaker from the BJP quota. Before them, two JD(U) leaders, Uday Narayan Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Choudhary, had served as speakers.
Congratulating Prem Kumar on his election, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, I congratulate Prem Kumar ji on behalf of the entire House. He has long experience and will fully cooperate in the functioning of the House. I request that the entire House stand once and offer him respect.
The 74-year-old JDU chief, however, gently rebuked some opposition leaders who remained seated and then smiled when they eventually stood up.
In his speech, Tejashwi Yadav pointed out that the Speaker represented a constituency that included pilgrimage sites associated with Lord Vishnu and Lord Buddha.
"You know well that the opposition acts as a mirror for the government, which may not always see its own shortcomings. We therefore expect you to involve us even more than the ruling side," the RJD leader said.
The Speaker thanked all members for placing their trust in him and said he looked forward to their cooperation.
Before adjourning the House for the day, he stressed that electing a Deputy Speaker was essential for the smooth functioning of the Assembly and said the election would be held on December 4.
About Prem Kumar, the 9-time MLA
70-year-old Prem Kumar is one of the senior-most leaders of the Bihar BJP. He belongs to the Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) community and has now been elected from Gaya Town to the Assembly for the ninth consecutive term. In the recently concluded Bihar elections, he defeated Congress candidate Akhaury Onkar Nath by 26,423 votes.
Prem Kumar has previously served as Environment Minister and Cooperative Minister, along with holding several important portfolios in earlier NDA governments. From 2015 to 2017, he was the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly during Nitish Kumar’s tenure as head of the then Mahagathbandhan government. He earned his PhD from Magadh University in 1999.
Also read: Prem Kumar elected Bihar assembly speaker: All you need to know about BJP veteran
