Jharkhand Assembly: Winds of change?

Ranchi, Aug. 19: Rashtriya Janata Dal legislator Saba Ahmed was elected deputy Speaker of the Jharkhand Assembly today after he emerged as the consensus candidate of the ruling party and the Opposition. This came a day after the BJP’s Mrigendra Pratap Singh was elected as the Speaker of the House in a similar manner.

A doctor by profession, Ahmed was formally elected through a voice vote on the concluding day of the two-day special session of the Assembly. Ahmed’s name was proposed by Mahendra Pratap Singh of the CPI-ML and seconded by Sanjay Yadav of the RJD.

The House, for a change, drew a rosy picture throughout the special session with the treasury and the Opposition benches exchanging pleasantries and showering praises on each other. This was in sharp contrast to the stormy monsoon session during which very little business could be transacted.

Former Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari said: “It never seemed that the monsoon session of the Assembly created bad blood between the ruling alliance and the Opposition. It was difficult to transact business of the House. But now Jharkhand has set an example for the country by first electing the Speaker and then the deputy Speaker as consensus candidates of the Opposition and the ruling party.”

Parliamentary affairs minister Pashupati Nath Singh was the first to praise the Opposition for backing Mrigendra Pratap Singh as the nominee for the Speaker’s chair.

He praised the leader of Opposition and other members for the gesture. This was reciprocated by the leader of Opposition and Ahmed himself. Leader of the House and chief minister Arjun Munda recollected his days as a member of the JMM.

He told the House how he had canvassed for Ahmed during election from the Tundi assembly segment of Dhanbad in the early nineties.

“I remember I had gone along with Shailendra Mahato for canvassing. We had breakfast at Ahmed’s place and then went to the constituency to meet the people,” Munda told the House.

Ahmed responded in a lighter vein, reminding Munda that former chief minister Babulal Marandi used to campaign against him during the elections.