Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has lambasted Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha over the way he was conducting the Assembly business and accusing him of violating the provisions of the Constitution.
Gesturing with rage, the chief minister challenged the Speaker by asking who was he to postpone the reply by the government to a question and threatened that the House cannot be run in this manner.
The row started over a simple ‘short notice question’ by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sanjay Saraogi during the pre-lunch session of the Assembly. The question was on a news in a vernacular newspaper published on February 23 about nine murders in 52 days in Lakhisarai district.
Saraogi sought to know why no arrests have been made in the cases and whether the state government wished to take appropriate steps to control crime in the district.
The question pertained to the home department, which is with the chief minister. But, as Kumar was not present in the House, senior Janata Dal United (JDU) leader and energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav gave the reply and added that the probe was going on.
However, Saraogi was not satisfied and posed additional questions. He also received the support of several other BJP legislators. Since everything was happening among the treasury benches, the situation was becoming awkward and Sinha postponed the reply to March 16.
Lakhisarai is the native district of Sinha and he has also repeatedly raised the issue of increase in crime there, as well as, the inaction of the police.
The Speaker has been demanding action against a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) and a station house officer (SHO) for allegedly arresting innocent youths instead of criminals who brandished firearms during a Saraswati Puja procession.
Sinha had alleged that the police officials misbehaved with him when he sought explanations from them on the complaints of the people. Several other BJP leaders have also been pressing for action against the police personnel.
The chief minister was present in his chamber in the Assembly building and was watching the development on the TV screen there. He rushed to the House gunning for the battle and started speaking without even seeking permission from the chair.
“Check the Constitution. I am surprised. When something is being investigated it is its (the police’s) jurisdiction. Na hum kisi ko phansate hai, na kisi ko bachate hain (I neither implicate anybody nor save anybody from punishment). Why are you concerned about the enquiry report? Investigation report goes to the court. It is not submitted in the Assembly. Does the House have the right to know it,” Nitish asked.
“Bring out the constitution. Will you run this House in this way? I am deeply hurt,” the chief minister said.
Sinha tried to interject and pleaded with him to listen to the chair too. But it was to no avail.
“You listen to me,” Nitish said and added: “This is not acceptable in any manner. You are asking a question and you are getting the reply. But you are postponing it. Who are you to do so? It means you are openly violating the Constitution. The House will not run like this,” Nitish screamed.
Sinha pointed out that the minister failed to reply whether the assets of the accused have been seized or not and asked Nitish, “You tell me how the House will run. I will run it in the manner you say.”
Nitish asserted that the government was vigorously pursuing the cases and lambasted Sinha for bringing a matter of his area into the House and termed it “not a good thing to do. The Constitution demarcates the work of everyone and we must follow it”.
He also said that he would ask his department whether it was facing any difficulty and whether there was any delay in the investigation.
The outburst once again brought to light the simmering friction and unease between Nitish and the BJP, which happens to be the senior partner in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the state with 74 seats in comparison to JDU’s 45.
With more muscle on its side, the BJP has been trying to assert itself in the government, but Nitish has not been allowing it to happen.
Nitish is also on the backfoot over the rising crime graph in the state and continuous hooch deaths that repeatedly draw attention to the failure of prohibition.
Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA and spokesperson Bhai Virendra criticised Nitish for the outburst. “It seems that Nitish Kumar has lost his mind due to his advanced age. He has started preaching the rules to the Speaker of the legislative Assembly. He is making announcements in flagrant violation of the ongoing model code of conduct in the wake of the forthcoming legislative Council elections,” Virendra said.