The Jharkhand Assembly is unlikely to witness smooth business during the rest of the monsoon session if the happenings on the opening day are any indication.

The 5-day monsoon session that began on September 3 has only four more working days left — from Monday to Thursday.

While the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD combine is preparing for getting some important business done during the brief session, the BJP is also trying its best to corner the government on certain issues.

The government is all set to present the first supplementary budget for 2021-22 on Monday.

It also wants to push through 75 per cent reservation of private jobs with monthly salary amounting up to Rs 40,000 for local people.

The Congress, an alliance partner of the ruling combine, has already declared that it would pursue 27 per cent reservation in state government’s jobs for other backward classes (OBCs).

Besides, the government also has on its agenda passing of a resolution favouring caste-based census.

But the question at the moment is whether the Hemant Soren government would be able to get those done during the current monsoon session smoothly.

More so as the BJP, on the other hand, has also declared that “anti-people policies of the Hemant government will be opposed”, adding they would also protest against deteriorating law and order situation of the state and also “fight for getting the new employment policy scrapped”.

Besides, the party also announced it would continue to demand recognition of their legislative party leader, Babulal Marandi, as the leader of the Opposition.

This is a long pending issue as the Speaker did not recognise him as the leader of the opposition because Marandi who, along with two others, had won the last Assembly election as JVM (P) candidates but switched parties.

Marandi joined the BJP after dissolving his party while two other MLAs went to the Congress fold. Their political status in the Assembly was yet to be decided.

It was the same issue that the BJP picked up for protesting when the Assembly started for the monsoon session last Friday.

As it is customary on the opening day of the session, obituary references were taken up and the Speaker asked BJP’s chief whip Biranchi Narayan to read out the same for quite a few who died recently, including former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, Olympian Milkha Singh and actor Dilip Kumar.

But his party colleagues asked Narayan not to proceed with it as it should have been ideally done by Marandi who, being the leader of their legislative party, was supposed to be the leader of the Opposition as well.

The BJP leaders then started shouting slogans against the Speaker who adjourned the House till Monday morning after the obituary references were hurriedly made.

“BJP threw the parliamentary traditions to the wind by disrupting the House during obituary reference,” JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya alleged afterwards, adding the Speaker should initiate action against those involved if they did not apologise for their act.

Many others also criticised BJP legislators for shouting slogans when obituary references were being made.

But that certainly did not guarantee smooth business in the House during the rest of the session.

Namaz, a new issue

Meanwhile, the BJP also got a new issue when Jharkhand Assembly earmarked a room within its premises for offering namaz.

“We are not against any religious practice but condemn the politics of appeasement that hurt others' sentiments,” said BJP state president and Rajya Sabha member Deepak Prakash, adding they would demonstrate against the decision across the state till Thursday, beginning with burning of effigy of the Speaker on Sunday.

Ranchi MLA C.P. Singh went a step further and demanded construction of a temple of Bajrang Bali within the Assembly premises.