Now, Bihar Speaker Vijay Sinha refuses to come to Assembly

Patna, March 15 (IANS) A day after having heated arguments with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the house, Speaker Vijay Sinha refused to come to the Assembly on Tuesday.

In his absence, presiding officer Prem Kumar conducted Assembly proceedings even as RJD leaders strongly protested against the Chief Minister for humiliating Sinha.

RJD's Bhai Virendra, with more than 20 other legislators, demanded clarification from Prem Kumar as to why the Speaker has not come to the Assembly.

"Speaker is the highest post in the Vidhan Sabha. The way the Chief Minister humiliated him is an insult to the democratic structure of the country. He should immediately apologise for his behavior and take back the non-parliamentary remark he had made on Monday," he said.

Interestingly, while opposition leaders are objecting to the act of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP leaders are not so vocal against him, despite Sinha being its MLA.

In the Legislative Council, RJD leader and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi slammed the BJP and termed its leaders "shameless".

"They (BJP leaders) want to stay in government at any cost - even if someone beats them with boots.

"Nitish Kumar is saying that the Speaker does not know the rulebook of Vidhan Sabha. I would say that he has no knowledge of the constitution. The Speaker is the highest constitutional post and he (Nitish Kumar) is humiliating him. Such a trend is dangerous in democracy," Rabri Devi said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister had visited Raj Bhavan around 8 p.m. on Monday and met Governor Phagu Chauhan. On Tuesday he visited Maner Sharif and offered a "Chadar" on the Dargah of Makhdoom Yahya Maneri which is known as 'Badi Dargah' (The great shrine) and Makhdoom Shah Daulat which is called the 'Choti Dargah' on the outskirts of Patna, located 25 km away from the Chief Minister's residence.

Chief minister, after offering the Chadar on both the Dargah, said that he used to come to this place regularly.

"It is a symbol of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood in Bihar. I pray to God to maintain peace in our state," he said.

Nitish Kumar, however, did not comment on his tiff with the Speaker.