NDA serves notice for House speaker’s removal day after Nitish rejoins alliance

Bihar’s ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday served a notice for assembly speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary’s removal as the process for electing the new presiding officer began a day after Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the chief minister after rejoining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance.

“I have served the notice, as the speaker, as per norms and established practice, has to be from the ruling dispensation. If the speaker resigns on his own, it is fine. Otherwise, it will be taken up for discussion after 14 days. It is as per procedure,” said BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, a former minister who is expected to replace Choudhary.

The NDA, which has the support of 128 lawmakers in the 243-member assembly, is expected to have its candidate elected for the key post in the event of the division of votes.

Choudhary was unavailable for comments. An aide to him said he was unwell and unable to talk.

The budget session of the assembly, the last before the announcement of the national elections, was to commence on February 5 with the governor’s joint address. The previous government gave the go-ahead for the session on January 18. A fresh cabinet decision is awaited over the budget session.

In August 2022, Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was on Sunday sworn in as a deputy chief minister, resigned as the speaker after Kumar quit the NDA and formed the government with Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress, and the Left parties.

In his speech before stepping down, Sinha said he would have resigned the day the new government was formed but was not given the opportunity after the notice of his removal was served ignoring rules, provisions, and parliamentary decorum. He added the notice carried some baseless allegations against him of being undemocratic and dictatorial.