The Bihar Legislative Assembly witnessed unprecedented scenes on Wednesday after panchayati raj minister and senior BJP leader Samrat Chaudhary rebuked Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who then adjourned the House and walked out.

Though the adjournment was supposed to end after around 30 minutes at noon, it had to be extended till 2pm because Sinha refused to come to the House and stayed back in his chamber, while several ministers of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) tried to assuage him. The crisis was diffused after Chaudhary apologised in the Assembly.

The unthinkable happened in the morning during Question Hour while Chaudhary was replying to a question by a fellow BJP legislator Vinay Bihari. The Speaker, who has been trying to streamline Assembly proceedings to save time spent in reading the answers in the House, sought to know why online answers were not being provided on the Assembly’s website.

Chaudhary was adamant that 14 out of 16 questions related to his panchayati raj department have been answered online, but Sinha pointed out that his office had received online answers of only 11 or 69 per cent of them. The minister was unwilling to accept the Speaker’s contention.

Sinha then asked Chaudhary to review the matter in his department at which the minister retorted: “Bahut vyakul nahi hona hai (Don’t become restive).”

Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha Sourced by The Telegraph

As Chaudhary’s words stunned the Assembly, Sinha asked him to take back his words at which the minister flared up, pointed his index finger at him and said: “Aye! This is not the way. This is not how it is done. Such directions are not given. You cannot give such directions.”

Sinha, who also hails from the BJP and is an MLA from Lakhisarai, told Chaudhary that he cannot question the Speaker inside the House and cannot use such words. Sinha then adjourned the proceedings till noon and went to his chamber.

Several ministers and senior leaders from the BJP and chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) also rushed to placate Sinha. The adjournment was extended till 2pm as no apology came from Chaudhary.

However, Chaudhary apologised when the session resumed at 2pm and said that he did not intend to lower the prestige of the Speaker’s position. Senior JDU leader and parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said that the statements of the minister had hurt the honour of the Speaker’s post and such things should not be repeated in future.

Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said he was “deeply pained over the way the government was lowering the prestige of the House and the importance of the Speaker’s position. What kind of people have become ministers…”

Several other Opposition legislators also attacked the NDA over undermining the legislature, legislative practices and decorum.

Speaker Sinha has faced flak from several ministers during the ongoing budget session, who have accused him of being harsh on them while going soft on the Opposition.