Patna: BJP MLA from Lakhisarai and NDA candidate Vijay Sinha was elected as speaker of newly constituted 17th Assembly.
Sinha secured 126 votes while Grand Alliance candidate Awadh Bihari Chaudhari got 114 votes. Attempt to evolve consensus candidate for the post of Speaker did not succeed as opposition refused to accept the request of the government to allow smooth unanimous election of a Speaker by supporting ruling NDA candidate.
Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad and several other leaders of NDA had requested leader of the opposition Tejasvi Prasad Yadav to follow the tradition of speaker post going to ruling party When Grand Alliance candidate Awadh Bihari Chaudhari did not withdraw his candidature for the post of the Speaker there was no option but to go for election.
Leader of the opposition demanded from the protem Speaker Jeetan Ram Manjhi to allow secret voting for the election of Speaker but he turned down the request saying there was no such provision.
Opposition members also demanded from the protem speaker to ask Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to go out from the House as during election of the Speaker. Protem Speaker ruled that Kumar was the leader of the House and there was no wrong in his sitting in the House during election of the Speaker.
Manjhi said that Kumar and others who are not members of the House would not participate in the voting. Manjhi accepted the demand of division of votes for election of the Speaker.
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