RJD seeks appointment of Rabri Devi as leader of opposition in Bihar Legislative Council

PATNA: Lalu Prasad’s RJD has submitted a fresh petition before the Bihar Legislative Council’s acting chairman, demanding appointment of Rabri Devi as the leader of opposition in the upper house.

Last year, the Council’s acting chairman Haroon Rashid had turned down a similar request of the RJD on the plea that the party did not have the required number of MLCs needed for the post. Then, the RJD had only seven members in the 75-member upper house.

As two more members of the RJD won the biennial election to the council last month, the party now has a strength of nine members, including Rabri in the upper house.

Sources in the council said, the RJD’s state president Ram Chandra Purbey, two days back, submitted a fresh petition in the office of the council’s acting chairman seeking appointment of Rabri as leader of opposition in the wake of increase in the number of the party’s MLCs.

Contacted over phone, Rashid on Friday admitted that his office had received a fresh petition from the RJD’s state president for appointment of Rabri as leader of opposition. “I was in Delhi for the last two days, hence I could not see the RJD’s petition earlier. Today, the petition was put up before me. I have seen it but so far no decision has been taken on the RJD’s request,” Rashid told TOI.

He said, as per the Bihar Legislative Council rules strength of at least 10 members is required for according the status of leader of opposition in the upper house. The RJD currently has nine members, he said.

BJP senior Sushil Kumar Modi was the leader of opposition in the council during Nitish Kumar-led grand alliance government in Bihar. The post fell vacant in the last week of July 2017 after Modi became deputy CM in the JD(U)-BJP coalition government a day after Nitish dumped the grand alliance and formed a new government with the BJP.

Earlier, RJD’s Gulam Gaus was given the status of leader of opposition when the party had a strength of nine in the council.

Citing precedence of Gaus, the RJD now wants the status of leader of opposition for Rabri, wife of party chied Lalu Prasad.