Bihar Assembly Day 1: Camaraderie across the aisle, Samrat touches CM’s feet, BJP gets Speaker’s post

The first day of the 18th Bihar Assembly opened with new MLAs taking the oath. This is the first time in a decade that the 243-member House will have over 200 members from the ruling National Democratic Alliance.
The Opposition Mahagathbandhan has 35 MLAs.

The oath-taking, conducted by protem Speaker Narendra Narayan Yadav, had several highlights, including Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary touching CM Nitish Kumar’s feet, and BJP Danapur MLA and minister Ram Kripal Yadav embracing Leader of Opposition, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav.

Before joining the BJP in March 2014, Ram Kripal Yadav had been with the RJD for over three decades and was the right-hand man of Tejashwi’s father and party founder Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Ram Kripal Yadav, who won the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, lost the general election last year to Tejashwi’s sister Misa Bharti from Pataliputra.

Legislators were allowed to take oath in Hindi, English, Urdu, Sanskrit and Maithili, with cabinet ministers going first. Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary took the oath in Hindi, eventually shaking hands with Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Another Deputy CM, Vijay Kumar Sinha, embraced Tejashwi after taking the oath.

What drew the most attention was Ram Kripal Yadav embracing Tejashwi after taking the oath. It is customary to greet both the CM and LoP after being sworn in.

Ram Kripal Yadav later told The Indian Express: “When I moved towards Tejashwi after taking the oath, he stood still. Then, I embraced him. Political camaraderie is very important in a democracy. Tejashwi is like my nephew, I have seen him grow… When I was part of UPA as an MP, I had got praise from NDA stalwarts like AB Vajpayee and LK Advani, after my speech on inflation”.

Alinagar BJP MLA and folk singer Maithili Thakur, who wore the traditional Mithila headgear paag to the House, took oath in Maithili, as did Minister Anand Shankar Prasad. Darauli MLA Vishnu Deo Paswan took oath in English, while most of Bihar’s 11 Muslim MLAs took oath in Urdu.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will address the five-day session on Wednesday.