RJD on Monday demanded that Bihar Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, a BJP leader, resign forthwith in view of the no-confidence motion moved against him by the 'Mahagathbandhan' earlier this month.
RJD state spokesman Shakti Singh Yadav said in a statement that as per the Vidhan Sabha rules Sinha cannot preside over the special session convened on August 24 when the new government is also scheduled to prove its majority on the floor.
Vijay Kumar Sinha should make an honourable exit and step down. We wonder what he is trying to prove by sticking around. He cannot sit in the Chair when the House meets. As per rules, the business will have to be conducted by the deputy speaker till a new Speaker is elected, said Yadav, who is also a former MLA.
More than 40 MLAs of the seven-party 'Mahagathbandhan', which now also includes Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), had submitted a no confidence motion against Sinha on August 11 soon after the BJP stood stripped of power with the swearing in of a new government.
According to the rules, a no confidence motion against the Speaker can be taken up in the House two weeks after its submission.
The 'Mahagathbandhan' comprises more than 160 MLAs in the 243-strong Assembly, where a simple majority is required for a no confidence motion against the Speaker.
Speculations are rife that the RJD, the single largest party in the Assembly with 79 MLAs, will be staking claim for the speaker's post. There is talk that party veteran Awadh Bihari Chaudhary will be nominated for the constitutional post.
The acting chairman of Bihar legislative council Awadhesh Narain Singh, who is also a BJP leader, may be replaced as well.
The JD(U), which has the largest number of MLCs, is said to be mulling nominating its legislator Devesh Chandra Thakur for the post.