Amid the chaos in the Bihar assembly yesterday, the Opposition women MLAs found a unique way to protest against the government when they decided to lie still on the assembly floor in order to stop the Speaker from leaving the house.
The Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha was stopped from getting out of the House by the women MLAs, and the security personnel had to be called in to evacuate him.
In a video shared by ANI, the security personnel can be seen lifting up a woman in white saree who falls back again, as if dead or unconscious,
The uproar was reportedly against the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill. The bill introduced last week seeks to rename the Bihar Military Police, and give it more teeth.
The members of the opposition Grand Alliance, comprising RJD, Congress and the Left reportedly created ruckus in the assembly over the bill and the House was adjourned as many as five times.
The Opposition leader also allegedly indulged in stone pelting which led to the use of water cannons by the police. They even tried to get physical with those in the treasury benches. When the proceedings resumed after 4.30 PM with senior BJP MLA Prem Kumar in the Chair, they tried to snatch away his papers.
According to an PTI report, no sooner than minister Bijendra Yadav presented the bill for debate, opposition members trooped into the well where marshals rushed to prevent the agitated legislators from getting physical with those in the treasury benches.
There were also incidents of MLAs of different parties getting physical with each other.
The chaos caused Chandrashekhar Singh and Upendra Sharma, District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police respectively, to rush to the Vidhan Sabha premises. A heavy contingent of police personnel wearing riot gear was also deployed which evicted the protesting MLAs.
The Speaker criticised the incident. “Today's incident is condemnable. All members of the Assembly should respect the Constitution. This is a serious issue,” said Sinha.
On the uproar in the Assembly, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said, “We wanted to speak but we were thrashed. This law means that search will be conducted without warrant and any policemen can arrest if he believes something is wrong - no use of courts and magistrate.”
“I have never seen such activities in the Assembly. They (Opposition MLAs) should have participated in the debate. We would have replied to every question of them (regarding Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021).” said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.