Bihar assembly: New cabinet to finalise inaugural session dates on November 25

The pro-tem Speaker, usually the longest-serving legislator, will administer the oath to all 243 legislators.

The first cabinet meeting of the new Bihar government will be convened on November 25 to decide the date for the inaugural session of the 18th assembly session, a senior Vidhan Sabha official said. Senior NDA leaders indicate the inaugural session, expected to last 4-5 days, is likely to be held at the end of November.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar (left) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Patna on November 20. (ANI)

A senior Janata Dal (United) leader commented that, typically, the cabinet meets on the day the chief minister and ministers take oath, but this time, the process has been slightly delayed. The pro-tem Speaker, usually the longest-serving legislator, will administer the oath to all 243 legislators — a significant moment for the many newcomers, as only 104 members from the previous assembly secured re-election.

The name of the pro-tem Speaker, however, remains uncertain. Earlier, late Sadanand Singh and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi served as pro-tem Speakers. Currently, Hari Narayan Singh (84) is the longest-serving legislator, having been elected ten times from Harnaut in Nalanda district. The Governor appoints the pro-tem Speaker from a panel of senior legislators submitted by the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, which this year includes Prem Kumar, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Narendra Yadav, Raghvendra Singh, Shravan Kumar, and Hari Narayan Singh.

The role carries importance beyond administering oaths as it also involves overseeing the Speaker’s election. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the single-largest party in the new assembly, is expected to retain the Speaker’s post, with Prem Kumar the likely choice, though an official announcement is pending. Historically, the Speaker’s post shifted among parties depending on ruling alliances: the JD(U) held it from 2005 until Nitish Kumar’s move to NDA saw BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha serve as Speaker, followed by Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Awadh Bihari Choudhary as part of the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan), and most recently BJP’s Nand Kishore Yadav when Nitish Kumar returned to NDA.

Following the oath-taking and Speaker’s election, the Governor will address the joint session of both Houses, outlining the new government’s priorities

Ahead of the session, BJP leader and Bihar Sanskrit Shiksha Board chairman Mrityunjay Kumar Jha has urged new legislators to take their oath in Sanskrit and circulated a format, describing Sanskrit as a unifying language central to India’s knowledge tradition.

In the last assembly, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, then Congress MLA, surprised many by taking oath in Sanskrit. Khan later explained that the gesture highlighted India’s unity in diversity and acknowledged Sanskrit as the mother of all languages, inspiring several others to do the same.