Nitish Kumar defends Assembly Speaker

PATNA - Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday defended the Bihar Assembly Speaker Udai Narayan Choudhry over his participation in a political rally alongside him, where he openly praised the work done by the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) government for dalits welfare in the state.

Kumar said Choudhry as a representative of the underprivileged class did nothing wrong in seeking support for the Mahadalit rally, which was organized by the ruling JD-U government.

Defending the Speaker, Kumar said the opposition was trying to defame a leader from the Mahadalit community, adding that the Speaker’s only sin appeared to be to belong to the scheduled caste, and trying to work for the uplift of his community.

Reacting to demands for Choudhry’s ouster, Kumar said, “It is absolutely unfounded. People are jealous of the Mahadalit programme’s success. It was not a political rally, but about Mahadalits, for Mahadalits and by Mahadalits.”

“Some people cannot stand that a person from that community has achieved such a high status and that the rally was such a success. I am honoured to have been invited to it. Choudhry is being made a target when the issue actually is dissatisfaction with the betterment of the Mahadalits,” added Kumar.

Dismissing all allegations of unconstitutional behaviour, Kumar said, “Choudhry has not gone against the Constitution. Does the Constitution say you can’t work to raise awareness among the scheduled castes? The rally is about their education, and social upliftment. And some people are unhappy with that.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad had earlier demanded Choudhry’s resignation for violating constitutional norms by participating in a political rally along with Nitish Kumar and openly praising the work done by the government for dalits welfare.

Prasad claimed that the Speaker of the House must maintain his neutrality and cannot be seen sharing a political stage with a political outfit.

Prasad said, “He was justifying the dance as part of his election campaign, he must be removed at once. This has not only spoilt Bihar’s image but also that of politicians.”

“It is written in the Constitution of India that when a person holds the post of Speaker of any house, he or she ceases to be the member of any political party and remains neutral for all the political parties,” added Prasad.

Choudhry was seen sharing the platform with Nitish Kumar and deputy Speaker Sushil Modi at a rally for Dalits on Sunday, where he raised slogans for Kumar and praised the work done by his government. (ANI)