Tejashwi Yadav-led opposition to boycott Bihar assembly proceedings over Agnipath scheme

PATNA: The opposition parties disrupted the proceedings of the state assembly for the third day on Tuesday, as Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha rejected their demand again for a discussion on the Agnipath scheme, leading to the adjournment of the House till the lunch hour.
Later, leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, long with other opposition leaders, announced before the media to boycott the House proceedings for the remaining two days of the monsoon session. They would sit on dharna in front of the statue of Karpoori Thakur on Wednesday to register their silent protest against the denial of conciliatory hearing by the Speaker.
The opposition, led by Tejashwi, demanded House discussion on the Agnipath scheme, release of the Agnipath protesters and the withdrawal of FIRs lodged against them. Later, a delegation of opposition leaders led by Tejashwi met the Speaker in his chamber and put across their demands. The Speaker rejected them point blank.
The post-lunch session saw a peculiar scene, as the Speaker’s bid for a House discussion on the need for the award of “utkrisht vidhayak” (best MLA) and “utkrisht vidhan Sabha” (best assembly) ended in an “unfortunate” fiasco, as the Speaker put it on account of three incidents.
First, the opposition members boycotted the House proceedings, then the JD(U) members also absented themselves from the House and sat in the auditorium of the House library and third, three JD(U) ministers – Sheila Mandal, Madan Sahani and Sunil Kumar – left the House after the motion for a discussion on the need for ‘utkrisht vidhayak’ and ‘utkrisht assembly’ was moved by BJP member Sanjay Sarawagi.
Consequently, it was a peculiar scene in the House, as the desire of the Speaker for it was initiated and heard only by the BJP members! Calling the situation “unfortunate,” the Speaker adjourned the House.