‘It is in speaker’s hand’: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says speaker can take any help to control situation in assembly

"Everyone knows how the speaker's chamber was gheraoed and what was done in front of his chair in the house," Nitish Kumar said.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said that the speaker of the state assembly can decide to call on any help to control the situation in the house, commenting on the ruckus in the Bihar state assembly on Tuesday. “Everyone knows how the speaker's chamber was gheraoed and what was done in front of his chair in the house. Today it is being said that Police was called there, it is in the speaker's hands that he can take any help to control the situation,” the CM was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. (HT PHOTO) (HT_PRINT)

The chief minister’s comments came amidst ongoing protests by the opposition parties against a bill passed by the state government on Tuesday.

The government of Bihar passed the Special Armed Police Bill on Tuesday, which the opposition parties heavily opposed. When some opposition leaders blocked the way of speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha after an adjournment order during the proceedings, marshals and police personnel were called in to evict the members. Also, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Satish Kumar was carried on a stretcher from the assembly. He alleged manhandling by “police and local goons” according to a report by ANI.

Condemning the chaos in the assembly, Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said, “I have never seen such activities in the Assembly. They (Opposition MLAs) should have participated in the debate. We would have replied to every question of them (regarding Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021).”

Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Modi also commented that he had never seen such “hooliganism, sabotage and scuffle,” ANI reported. “If tomorrow they (opposition) get another chance, they will do the same for the entire state of Bihar,” ANI quoted Modi as saying.

Meanwhile, a first information report (FIR) was filed against Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav and other unnamed party workers, according to a news report by ANI.