RJD seeks leader of opposition status for Rabri in council

PATNA: The RJD has submitted a fresh petition before the Bihar Legislative Council’s acting chairman Haroon Rashid, demanding appointment of Rabri Devi as the leader of opposition in the Upper House.
Rashid last year had turned down a similar request by 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 house. With two more RJD members, the party now has 9 MLCs, including Rabri.

Sources in the council said RJD’s state president Ram Chandra Purbey submitted the petition two days back in the wake of increase in the number of party’s MLCs.

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

He said as per the legislative council rules, any party requires at least 10 MLCs for according the status of leader of opposition in the Upper House. The RJD currently has nine members only, he said.

BJP senior Sushil Kumar Modi was the leader of opposition in the council when Nitish Kumar led the Grand Alliance government in Bihar. The post fell vacant in the last week of July 2017 after Modi became deputy CM after Nitish formed a new government with the BJP.

Earlier, RJD’s Gulam Gaus was given the status of leader of opposition when the party had nine MLCs. Citing the precedence of Gaus, the RJD now wants the status of leader of opposition for Rabri, the wife of party chief Lalu Prasad.