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Bihar Oppn MLAs reach assembly in helmets as Monsoon session begins
The gesture was a mark of protest against being evicted from the legislature by security personnel on March 23 following a major ruckus inside the Assembly.
A number of Opposition MLAs in Bihar reached the Assembly wearing helmets and carrying first aid kits on the first day of the Monsoon session as a mark of protest against being evicted from the legislature by security personnel on March 23.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislator Satish Kumar said Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had called goons to lynch the MLAs inside the Assembly on the fateful day when unprecedented ruckus was witnessed over the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill 2021 that was introduced to give its police more teeth, deemed necessary in view of the increasingly complex security needs of the state.
“Suspension of policemen is not a punishment. For our safety, we are wearing the helmets. If police and local goons beat us, our heads will be safe," the RJD MLA was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The opposition MLAs were also seen distributing black masks at the Assembly.
Police personnel had been called to assist the marchals carry out the legislators after a few of the opposition leaders restricted Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha from leaving his chamber.
The monsoon session of the Assembly is likely to be an eventful and chaotic one as the opposition parties have chalked out a strategy to corner the coalition government of the Janata Dal -United (JD-U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on issues such as rising prices of fuel, cooking gas, fertilisers and edible oil.
Earlier, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav wrote to the Speaker, saying opposition legislators were scared to enter the House due to the March 23 incident. “Our MLAs are now afraid of entering the House and raising questions there...let us know the result of the investigation on the March 23 incident. That was a black day which will never be forgotten," Yadav wrote.
