BJP disrupts Assembly proceedings in Bihar; both Houses adjourned

Patna: Within minutes of the start of Tuesday's proceedings, the Bihar Assembly was suspended until 2 p.m. due to the disruptive attitude of BJP opposition members who demanded Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister, resign in response to a CBI chargesheet.

Soon after the House convened at 11 am, BJP MLAs entered while shouting slogans, and some of them attempted to turn the table meant for the reporting staff upside down and place chairs on it.

A heated exchange took place between Education Minister Chandra Shekhar and former minister Pramod Kumar, and marshals were called to stand in the way of the latter who walked menacingly towards the treasury benches.

Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary tried to run the House amid the pandemonium before telling the opposition members that ''such behaviour is reprehensible and is tantamount to a blot on democracy''.

The Speaker, thereafter, announced that the House would reassemble after lunch hour, at 2 pm.

BJP MLA Sanjay Saraogi told reporters outside the House, ''We will not allow the House to run unless Yadav resigns or he is sacked by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.'' Saraogi taunted Kumar for having brought Yadav to the assembly, the day before, in his own car ''just for the sake of protecting his chair''. ''We cannot believe he is the same man who used to make his ministers resign merely on the basis of FIR. In this case, there is a chargesheet,'' he said.

Yadav's name figured in a chargesheet submitted by the CBI last week in the 'land-for-jobs' scam.

The case pertains to people allegedly given employment in the railways, during the tenure of Lalu Prasad as the Railway Minister, in return for land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family and its associates, officials of investigating agencies had earlier said.

The chargesheet filed last week also names Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi.

The ED had earlier searched Yadav's residence in Delhi and the CBI had questioned both Prasad and Devi.

The RJD has been alleging that the CBI is being politically misused by the BJP which rules the Centre, and pointing out that Yadav was a minor when the alleged scam took place. Meanwhile, uproarious scenes were also witnessed in the legislative council where the opposition members entered the well raising the issue of teachers' recruitment. Notably, the BJP has announced that it will stage a march, from the historic Gandhi Maidan to the Vidhan Sabha, on July 13, in support of demands raised by teachers' job aspirants, which include restoration of domicile policy, regularisation of non-commissioned teachers and recruitment, without any competitive tests, of those who have cleared CTET or BTET.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Finance, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, who was present in the Upper House, tried to pacify the opposition members saying the chief minister was sensitive to the concerns and the government will take appropriate action.

However, as the opposition members seemed to be in no mood to relent, proceedings of the House, which began at noon, were within minutes adjourned till 2.30 pm.

With PTI inputs