The longest serving Speaker of the Bihar Assembly, Uday Narayan Chaudhary, will be the man to watch out for on February 20 when chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi moves a confidence motion on the floor of the House. Till date he is the only Speaker in Bihar to get a second term. As the political temperature soars, he is in the centre of controversy with a no-confidence motion moved against him by dissidents and the murder of former MP of Gaya, Rajesh Kumar, in 2005 being thrown at his face. "Never has any governor written such a letter to the Bihar Speaker giving him directions," remarked a supporter of his. The Speaker shares his views with Dipak Mishra of The Telegraph.
Do you find these moments the most challenging in your tenure as Speaker?
It's not a challenge. It's a responsibility, which has to be met. The beauty of the job is carrying your responsibility according to the rules and laws of the Constitution. There are no grey areas.
But the February 20 floor test will also be quite a responsibility.
Yes. My first problem is the sitting arrangement in the House. A queer situation has arisen and the question is who will sit in the treasury bench. The JDU has written a letter to me saying that it will sit in the Opposition bench and even claimed the post of Leader of the Opposition. The RJD, Congress and CPI MLAs will also be sitting in the Opposition. The BJP has not conveyed to me that if it would be supporting the CM. The CM has been declared a member without any party affiliation but all his MLAs are technically JDU members, including his ministers Nitish Mishra, Brishen Patel and Shahid Ali Khan. Only Vinay Bihari, who is an Independent MLA, can sit in the treasury bench with the CM. This is an unprecedented situation and I intend to call an all-party meeting to decide the sitting arrangements on that day.
The governor has sent you a letter giving certain directions?
Yes, he has but I have nothing to say. The governor is the constitutional head of the state and I also hold a constitutional position. It does not look good for constitutional post holders to comment on each other. But the crux of his letter is that he wants transparency. I want to assure the people that as long as I am the Speaker, the proceedings on February 20 will be transparent and conducted according to the rules. As Speaker, I initiated the live telecast of the proceedings of the Assembly so that everything was transparent. The Bihar Assembly was the first to telecast its proceedings after Parliament did it. In another first, in every session, I called schoolchildren to witness the House proceedings and interact with the MLAs and the ministers. The powers of the Speaker are defined in Rule 56 of the Rules and Regulations of the Assembly.
What type of voting pattern will you choose to follow - the lobby system or secret ballot?
At this stage, I will not say anything about the voting pattern to be followed.
There have been certain charges regarding your involvement in the murder of former Gaya MP Rajesh Kumar in 2005.
There is freedom of speech. The position I hold forbids me to reply to the charge or else I would have given them an answer. But the issue keeps cropping up. The matter was raised even when I was a candidate for the Lok Sabha polls. There should have been a permanent solution to the issue.
What is the status of the eight dissident MLAs you disqualified?
They are no longer MLAs. I have not issued any new notification withdrawing their disqualification.
There have been questions raised about the manner in which they have been disqualified?
According to rules, MLAs of a party in a Rajya Sabha poll have to declare to the party's representative who they are voting for. It is a settled matter in the Supreme Court.
Can you assure the people that the proceedings will be transparent and fair?
There will be complete transparency and the House will function in accordance with the rules. There will be videography of the entire proceedings.
