The ruling National Democratic Alliance candidate Vijay Kumar Sinha on Wednesday was elected Speaker of the Bihar Assembly through voice vote.
Mr. Sinha got 126 votes while 114 members opposed him in the 243-strong Assembly. Altogether 240 members participated in the voting process.
Pro-tem Speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi announced the election of Mr. Sinha.
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Mr. Sinha has been four-time BJP MLA from Lakhisarai Assembly constituency in Munger district.
Earlier, the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Mahagathbandhan protested the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the voting as he is not a member of the House.
“Why should the Chief Minister who is not a member of the House be present when election process is on through voice vote,” shouted Opposition legislators and rushed to well of the House.
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The Mahagathbandhan fielded six-time RJD MLA from Siwan Awadh Bihari Chaudhury as its nominee for the Speaker’s post.
Amid the Opposition’s protest, Mr. Manjhi adjourned the House for five minutes before the poll.
The Opposition leaders demanded that the election for the Speaker’s post be done through secret vote.
However, Mr. Manjhi refused, saying, “there is no constitutional provision for secret voting for Speaker’s post”. Following this, Mr. Sinha was elected through voice vote.
On Tuesday, senior State BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that RJD chief Lalu Prasad had called up some NDA leaders and offered them ministerial to induce them to vote for Mr. Chaudhury.
“Lalu Yadav making telephone call (8*********2) from Ranchi to NDA MLAs & promising ministerial berths. When I telephoned, Lalu directly picked up. I said don’t do these dirty tricks from jail, you will not succeed,” Mr. Modi tweeted.
Mr. Modi was recently made chairman of the Ethics Committee of the State Legislative Council.