Senior RJD legislator Abdul Bari Siddiqui, a loyalist of party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, was on Friday named the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly after Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary recognised the veteran politician for that post despite a weakened RJD not meriting the honour.
The Nitish Kumar-led JD(U)-BJP coalition government showed magnanimity in relaxing the established conventions of legislative business so as to appoint Siddiqui as the Leader of the Opposition. The RJD, which ruled Bihar for 15 long years, failed to qualify for the status of the Opposition party in last month’s Assembly polls because the Legislative Assembly rules require a party to secure at least 10 per cent of seats for that honour. The RJD suffered its worst electoral defeat that reduced its strength in the 243-member Assembly to a mere 22 from a respectable 54.
Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary, whose unanimous re-election on Thursday made him only the second politician to hold that post in a state Assembly for a second term after West Bengal’s Hashim Abdul Halim, announced Mr Siddiqui as the Leader of the Opposition with the full consent of the ruling NDA. The Speaker also named Nitish Kumar as the leader of the Assembly shortly after governor Devanand Konwar addressed a joint session of the two Houses of the Bihar legislature.
Mr Siddiqui, who continues to be the RJD’s Bihar unit chief, was earlier elected leader of the party’s newly elected MLAs, a post that was held by Ms Rabri Devi for the past five years.
Party sources said Mr Siddiqui, known for his erudition and clean image, is likely to resign as the RJD state unit chief to pave the way for another leader.