Bihar assembly speaker finally resigns after face off

New Delhi, Aug 24: Vijay Kumar Sinha resigned as the Speaker of the 243-member Bihar Assembly ahead of the floor test of Nitish Kumar-led 'Mahagathbandhan'government.

"Bowing before majority, I resign as speaker, says Vijay Kumar Sinha inside Bihar Assembly," he said.

In a surprise move, the Speaker tendered his resignation while addressing the Assembly over no-confidence Motion against him. The speaker had adjourned the House till 2:00 pm.

"The Chair is 'Panch Parmeshwar'. What message do you want to give by casting suspicions on the Chair? People will make a decision," Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha said in the House as he spoke on the No-confidence Motion against him. "I would like to tell you that your No-confidence Motion (against him - the Speaker) is unclear. Eight of the nine people's letters, which were received, were not as per rule," he aaded.

Ahead of the floor test, Opposition MLA's gathered outside the Bihar Assembly and demanded the resignation of Speaker VK Sinha.

"Conspiracy to scare us through raids won't work. It's a conspiracy to topple our government. Our proposal for No-Confidence Motion against Speaker should be considered and discussed," the MLAs told news agency ANI.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who parted ways with the BJP to ally with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is set to face a trust vote in the state assembly today.

The 'Mahagathbandhan', which comprises the chief minister's JD(U), besides RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M), has a combined strength of more than 160 in the 243-strong House.