Speaker race picks up pace in Bihar; Prem Kumar, Damodar Rawat in contention

Patna: A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar allocated the portfolios among the state ministers, lobbying has intensified for the post of Speaker in the assembly, sources in the ruling NDA said on Saturday.

BJP MLA Prem Kumar, who has been elected for the ninth consecutive term from the Gaya Town assembly seat, is considered the frontrunner for the Speaker's post as he is one of the senior-most leaders of the party, they said.

The name of Jhajha MLA Damodar Rawat of the JD(U) was also doing the rounds, they said.

A special session of the assembly will soon be convened so that all 243 elected members can take the oath and elect a Speaker, the sources said.

The date for the commencement of the special assembly session will be decided at a state Cabinet meeting, which will be held on November 25, they said. "The governor will first appoint a Protem Speaker who will administer the oath to the newly elected members. After the members take the oath, the election of the Speaker will be held," said a senior leader of an NDA constituent.

The two main NDA constituents - the BJP and JD(U) - are eying the post of Speaker, the sources said.

"Now lobbying has intensified for the post of Speaker among the alliance partners," a JD(U) leader said.

Echoing him, a BJP insider said, "The lobbying is underway. Our senior-most MLA Prem Kumar is the frontrunner for the Speaker's post." Prem Kumar, who was the cooperative minister in the previous NDA government, defeated Congress candidate Akhaury Onkar Nath by a margin of 26,423 votes this time.

He was also the leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly between 2015 and 2017.

Sources in the JD(U) said Jhajha MLA Damodar Rawat is also in discussion for the post.

In the outgoing assembly, BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav served as the Speaker, while JD(U)'s Narendra Narayan Yadav held the position of Deputy Speaker.

"A section of JD(U) leaders believe since Awadhesh Narain Singh of the BJP holds the position of chairman of the state legislative council, the assembly Speaker should go to Nitish Kumar's party," the sources said.

The BJP may take the Deputy Speaker's post, they said.

JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar was on Thursday sworn in as the Bihar chief minister for a record 10th term here at a grand ceremony.

Along with 74-year-old Kumar, 26 ministers took the oath of office: 14 from the Bharatiya Janata Party, eight from Janata Dal (United), two from Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas), and one each from Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).