JD(U), BJP members clash in Bihar House

Patna, Jul 24: Old NDA companions JD(U) and BJP clashed in Bihar legislative council on Thursday with members of the two rival parties shoving and pushing each other in the presence of the parties' leaders Nitish Kumar and Sushil Kumar Modi.

The ugly episode took place during the question hour when JD(U) member Sanjay Singh objected to BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the council, referring to Water Resources minister Vijay Chaudhary by name and said he was suffering from some disease due to which he always kept blubbering something.

An angry Modi rushed into well of the house demanding that the comments be expunged from the records and condemned Singh's behaviour against a senior.

Other BJP members followed him into the well. Council Chairman Awdesh Narayan Singh moved to another question but adjouned the house till 2.30 pm when BJP members refused to listen to repeated requests from the chair and kept shouting anti-government slogans.

A scuffle broke out between JD(U) and BJP members as soon as the chairman left. BJP state president Mangal Pandey, and MLAs Rajneesh Kumar and others were seen rushing towards Sanjay Singh. Some JD(U) members Neeraj Kumar, Ranbir Nandan among others came together in support of Sanjay Singh and the members pushed and shoved rivals.

This ended after senior members from both sides intervened and physically separated them with the help of house marshals. Later, Modi while talking to reporters pointed fingers at former chief minister Nitish Kumar and accused him of instigating Singh for the clash.

Modi, who was accompanied by Pandey and other BJP MLAs, said the party would boycott the house proceedings today in protest. Kumar, who is a member of the legislative council and who sits besides Sanjay Singh in the house, expressed anger over the allegation of instigation.

Expressing hurt, he told a section of the media that he would raise the matter before the chairman in the post-lunch session. Senior state ministers including Vijay Chaudhary and P K Shahi came to the defence of Kumar, who sat quietly in the house, and said the accusations reflected the 'perverted' mindset of the BJP members.

PTI