Bihar politics: Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Vijay Kumar Sinha on Friday (July 7) drew flak from the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ as he stormed out of the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker ahead of the monsoon session.
Sinha was miffed at the rejection of his demand for the records of the previous meeting which took place before the budget session be summoned.
He alleged that the legislature was ‘acting as an instrument of the government’.
The meeting was convened by Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary in view of the monsoon session which commences on July 10 and will continue till July 14.
“There are so many issues that I wanted to raise. These include irregularities in the appointment of Vidhan Sabha staff and breach of privilege of some of the members. But, the Chair seemed to be acting upon instructions of the government,” Sinha, who suddenly left the meeting mid-way said while speaking to the media outside.
What did Parliamentary Affairs Minister say?
However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, who was also present at the meeting, said Sinha “being a former Speaker should have known that there has been no convention of summoning records of previously held meetings. Such a thing happened neither during his tenure nor during mine”.
Chaudhary, a senior JD(U) leader, had also been the Speaker from 2015 to 2020.
Sinha was elected to the post after the previous Assembly polls in 2020. He stepped down last year after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke away from the NDA and rejoined the grand alliance.
“It is strange that Sinha was insisting upon summoning of records, which he did not himself allow while he was in the Chair. It seems the urge to remain in headlines has got the better of him,” Congress legislature party leader Shakil Ahmed Khan said.
The Congress leader also hinted that the BJP might create chaos during the short monsoon session.
“We, in the treasury benches, have as much of a temper as them,” he said.
RJD leader Akhtarul Iman Shahin took a swipe at Sinha and recalled a heated exchange the BJP leader had with Samrat Choudhary, the current state BJP chief, who was then a state minister.
“His party chief had once famously admonished him for getting perturbed. So, it seems perturbance has become second nature to Sinha,” he said.
“A senior leader present at the meeting had remarked that he has been a member of the House for 32 years, and never before had he seen anybody boycotting the all-party meeting,” Shahin added.
(With PTI inputs)
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