Vijay likely to be elected Speaker on December 2

Patna: Senior JD(U) leader and CM Nitish Kumar’s trusted lieutenant Vijay Kumar Chaudhary is all set to be elected as Speaker of the Bihar legislative assembly. The election is likely to be held on December 2.
Nitish had bargained hard with RJD boss Lalu Prasad at the time of negotiations for ministerial berths between alliance partners to get the Speaker’s post for Chaudhary. Initially, Lalu wanted that the Speaker should be from RJD as it has the highest number of MLAs in the assembly.There were talks of electing veteran RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui for the post.
JD(U) sources said since Chaudhary would be the Mahagathbandhan’s candidate, which has a clear majority in the House, his election as Speaker would be a smooth affair. The RJD, JD(U) and Congress have 80, 71 and 27 MLAs respectively in the 243-member House.
“Nitish trusts Chaudhary and even when he was in the cabinet he held very important departments. Chaudhary is also known for his administrative and negotiation capabilities, which are very important when there is a coalition government. Therefore, Nitish bargained for the post of Speaker when Lalu wanted to induct his both sons Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav as ministers,” said a source.
When contacted, Chaudhary said he is ready to shoulder any responsibility assigned to him by the party and its leadership. He, however, claimed he has not yet been formally intimated by the party leadership about any future assignment.
“I have always worked to the best of my abilities whenever I have been assigned any responsibility in the party or government,” said Chaudhary, adding he would continue to do so even in future.