Patna, Dec 1 (PTI) Veteran BJP leader Prem Kumar on Monday filed his nomination papers for election to the post of assembly Speaker in Bihar.
The filing of nomination took place before the secretary in-charge of the Vidhan Sabha, Khyati Singh, in presence of Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, in addition to senior JD(U) leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
In a show of solidarity, junior NDA partners Raju Tiwari (LJP-RV) and Madhaw Anand (RLM) were also present on the occasion.
With the NDA enjoying a brute majority in the 243-strong assembly, with 202 seats, the election of Prem Kumar, an eight-term MLA from Gaya Town, is being seen as a foregone conclusion.
The election of the Speaker is scheduled on Tuesday.
Prem Kumar is expected to be elected unopposed as the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, comprising the RJD, Congress and the Left, has shied away from fielding a candidate.
According to NDA sources, the JD(U), headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had lobbied hard for appointing one of its 85 MLAs as the new Speaker.
The JD(U)’s contention was that it has “ceded” the coveted Home portfolio, which Nitish Kumar had kept with himself until now, to Samrat Choudhary, a former state BJP president, and it now expected the alliance partner to reciprocate the gesture.
However, the BJP, which has 89 MLAs, as against the JD(U)’s tally of 85, put its foot down.
The JD(U), which has been in power since 2005, had kept the post of the Speaker with itself in the first three tenures. However, in 2020, when its tally had plummeted, the party ceded the post to BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha.
Mid-term, when Nitish Kumar walked out of the NDA, the post went to RJD’s Awadh Bihari Chaudhary. When the chief minister realigned with the NDA last year, the post went to veteran BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav.
Speculations are rife that the JD(U) may now demand the post of the Deputy Speaker.
However, state BJP president and minister Dilip Jaiswal kept cards close to the chest over the matter.
“Other things will be known to you in due course. Do not be anxious to get all news on the same day,” Jaiswal told reporters. PTI NAC RBT
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