PATNA : The Bihar assembly on Monday saw a heated exchange of words between CM Nitish Kumar and speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, adding fuel to talks of a rift in the JD(U)-BJP alliance in the state. “This is not the way to run the House. Bring the Constitution. Go through it,” Nitish said. “The way the House is being run amounts to violation of constitutional norms regarding the separation of powers between the legislature, executive and judiciary. ”
The unprecedented spat happened during question hour when the speaker asked minister in-charge of the home department Bijendra Prasad Yadav to inform the House about action taken on an incident in Lakhisarai. Sinha is a BJP member and represents Lakhisarai.
A DSP-rank officer and two station house officers had “misbehaved” with the speaker in Lakhisarai on February 10. The matter was raised in the assembly, and is currently being looked at by the House privilege committee.
Minister in charge of the home department Bijendra Prasad Yadav had given the government’s reply to a shortnotice question regarding a spurt in crime in Bihar’s Lakhisarai over the past one month. When BJP member Sanjay Sarawagi said that there is not much movement in the case of police misbehaving with the Speaker, Sinha asked Yadav to reply again in two days.
Nitish Kumar, who heads the home department, was watching the proceedings on TV in his chamber and hurried to the House — clearly angry that a matter being probed by the government and referred to the privilege committee was raised in the assembly “again and again”.
“The privilege committee that is looking into the report will give its opinion. The government will take the decision accordingly, but the matter cannot be raised frequently in the House,” he said.
Sinha was in his chair and the CM spoke from his seat in the first row of the treasury benches. “When any incident happens, police do the probe and the investigation report is submitted to the court. It is for the court to see and adjudicate. Is the police report matter of the House? Is the House empowered to see the report and adjudicate? The constitutional limits should not be crossed, it is not good, and I will say do not intervene in the matter that is of the government.”
Nitish pointed out that the Speaker shouldn’t allow an incident from his constituency to cast its shadow on House proceedings. Sinha tried to pacify the CM, but to no avail. He later said, “You (Nitish) have been always saying that your government practises development with justice. But I am the custodian of the House, and my work is also to protect the dignity of legislature.”