Jharkhand Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto defended his move to provide space for namaz within the Assembly precincts, accusing the BJP of raking up a "non-issue" even as the Opposition party held protests and burnt effigies of the chief minister and Speaker in some districts, including Ranchi.

On Sunday evening, over two dozen party workers, led by state BJP general secretary Aditya Sahu staged a protest in Harmu in stte capital.

BJP has accused the Speaker and state government of "appeasement politics" and demanded space for construction of a lavish Hanuman temple with similar arrangements for people of different faiths within the Assembly building.

Speaker Mahto, however, maintained that there was nothing "unconstitutional" about the move to offer space for namaz in the Asembly premises.

“I don’t know why the BJP is protesting over a non-issue. This trend of a earmarking a separate room for those who want to offer namaz, mainly on Fridays, was there even in the old Assembly building which was used over a decade ever since creation of Jharkhand in 2000. Now that the Assembly has shifted to a permanent building, we have simply notified a room where people can offer prayers (namaz). Why so much fuss?" he wondered, claiming that such facilities were present in other states too.

"The Vidhan Sabha,” he said, "will always be the temple of democracy. It is where we celebrate all festivals like Sarhul, Holi and the like.”

The Opposition BJP, however, isn’t ready to climb down. State party president and Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash said on Sunday that they would continue thier protest till the order was taken back. “The Hemant Soren government has kept doors of the temple for devotees closed for months citing Covid-19, but provides a room for namaz at the Assembly. This move exposes his intention to polarise,” he said.

On Saturday, Ranchi MLA C. P. Singh had demanded that the Speaker provide a space for the construction of a Hanuman temple within the Assembly premises. He also said that the BJP was ready to bear the cost. BJP chief whip in the Assembly Biranchi Narayan has threatened to challenge the Speaker's decision in court. In a letter to Mahto, he appealed to him t withdraw the notification.