The Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday elected senior party leader and seven-time MLA from Gaya Town Prem Kumar as its legislature party leader. Mr. Kumar will be the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly. Its winter session is scheduled to begin on Monday.
In a late evening meeting, party legislators “unanimously” elected Mr. Kumar as party leader in Assembly after former Opposition leader Nand Kishore Yadav proposed his name for the post.
“I’ve been holding several posts in the party for several years and now others too should be given opportunity,” said Mr. Yadav. Asked if it was because of the party’s crushing defeat in the last poll he was reluctant to take up the post again, Mr. Yadav said: “Yes, you could say so.”
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Of the total 243 seats, the BJP could win just 53 seats in the Assembly elections. However, party leaders Mr. Kumar won the poll from Gaya Town seat for the record seventh time while Mr. Yadav barely managed to retain his Patna Sahib seat.
During the campaign, BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain had declared Mr. Kumar as the party’s chief ministerial candidate, though he later refuted it saying he was “misquoted” by the media.
Earlier, Mr. Kumar had been a Minister in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government and is known for his soft demeanour.
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Earlier in the day, Governor Ram Nath Kovind administered oath of office to veteran Congress legislator Sadanand Singh as pro-tem speaker of the 16th Assembly. The pro-tem Speaker will administer oath to all newly-elected members of the House, which is scheduled to be convened on November 30.
Speaker election on Dec. 2Election of the new Speaker will be held on December 2. The name of senior Janata Dal (United) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhury is doing the rounds for the post. Mr. Chaudhury is also known for his proximity to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
“Once the new Speaker is elected, I’ll resume my duty as the Congress legislature party leader,” said Sadanand Singh. Altogether 99 new faces will be in the Assembly, whereas 100 MLAs have been re-elected. The rest 44 were members of the House for more than two terms.
The winter session will end on December 8.