Bihar: Tejashwi storms out of House after tiff with minister, relents after Speaker’s plea

Bihar Legislative Assembly was adjourned in the second half on Thursday after members of opposition RJD created a ruckus, protesting the remarks of rural development minister Shravan Kumar against leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in a verbal duel between the two over statistics furnished by them the previous day on jobs given under the rural employment scheme MNREGA.

Bihar Legislative Assembly was adjourned in the second half on Thursday after members of opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) created a ruckus, protesting the remarks of rural development minister Shravan Kumar against leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in a verbal duel between the two over statistics furnished by them the previous day on jobs given under the rural employment scheme MNREGA.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav along with party legislators outside the Bihar assembly on Thursday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Tejashwi took exception to the minister’s remark his figures were wrong and the government’s right and stormed out of the House, saying he would not return as long as the minister was there. RJD members too walked out with their leader.

In the second half, when Tejashwi did not turn up, RJD chief whip Lalit Yadav sought the Speaker’s intervention to call him and seek apology and clarification from the minister.

Despite Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha’s statement that the statistics furnished by both LOP and the minister were from the same website and that the matter should not be stretched too far, RJD leaders were not convinced. Both sides kept shouting at each other for making wrong statements.

“For any confusion inside the House, we have to find a solution. Nobody will come from outside to solve it, nor will I invite anyone. There are both new and experienced leaders in the House and we should try to find a solution so that important business is not hampered,” the Speaker said, adding that he had checked the data and both were right.

The Speaker asked Lalit Yadav, who was firm on apology from the minister, to bring the LOP in the House.

Parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, who also heads the education department whose budgetary provision was to be put to debate in the second half, said both the minister and the LOP should be called as it had been proved that both had taken it from the same website and the issue had been discussed in the Speaker’s chamber. “Both presented the statistics in their own way. The LOP’s absence is not good for the House,” he said.

However, with the din continuing, the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 pm to discuss the matter with both sides to find a solution. The House resumed after 3.10 pm and the minister Shravan Kumar clarified that he had no intention to hurt anyone.

Later, Tejashwi returned to the House and said his intention was only to raise a public issue and that he had taken data from the official website only. “We want the House to run properly, but the minister should also verify data given by officials before making a statement on the floor of the House,” he said.