CM-Speaker spat not in isolation, it was brewing for a while in Bihar

The Monday incident, however, didn’t occur in isolation; the rigidity in the relation was visible for some time. It started off as a turf war between Munger MP and JD(U)’s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alias Lalan Singh, and Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha who is an MLA from Lakhisarai, which is a part of the Munger Lok Sabha seat. The turf war turned into a battle between the parties soon after over a dozen BJP workers, including party’s former Lakhisarai president Kanhaiya Singh, joined the JD(U) last fortnight.

On Monday, outside the Assembly, BJP and JD(U) spokespersons targeted one another for not following the coalition ‘dharma’.

RJD MLAs outside Assembly wearing black arm band to protest CM Nitish Kumar’s salvos against Speaker. (Express photo by Nagendra Kumar Singh)

Though Sinha and Singh had never been on good terms, an incident during the Saraswati Puja last month was the main trigger. Some JD(U) workers, said to be close to Lalan Singh, had organised an orchestra party, a video of which showed some people dancing with firearms. Later, Birupur police arrested four BJP workers but did not initiate any action against the organisers.

Speaker Sinha took exception to the police’s “selective and partial” investigation. “What are they (police) doing? Those from the audience were booked and no action was taken against the organisers,” the Speaker had said. He later took up the matter with DGP SK Singhal and the CM.

As none of the organisers was arrested, BJP MLAs Sanjay Saraogi and Arun Shanker on Monday sought to know if the property of those absconding was confiscated. Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav could not convince the BJP MLAs with his reply. To put pressure on the government, the BJP MLAs also cited nine recent cases in Lakhisarai in which about 8 people were killed. The Speaker then decided to fix another day for a reply on the question.

It is at this point that CM Nitish Kumar intervened and questioned the Speaker’s decision to defer the question in a raised voice. “Aap hote kaun hai. Ye samvidhan ka ullanghan hai (who are you to do this. This is violation of the constitutional norms),” he had said. Speaker Sinha, who otherwise kept his calm, said: “Attempt should not be made to demoralise the chair”.