Patna: Senior JD(U) leader Uday Narain Choudhary was on Thursday elected unanimously for the second consecutive term as speaker of Bihar assembly.
His unanimous election to the post was announced by the pro-tem speaker Sadanand Singh in the state assembly.
Choudhary`s name was proposed by the Minister for Water Resources Vijay Kumar Choudhary and seconded by Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav.
The resolution was passed by voice vote with opposition MLAs deciding not to oppose it.
Later, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hailed Choudhary`s re-election as the speaker of the house and said it had once again been done in keeping with high constitutional
traditions.
Apparently referring to sharp reduction in the strength of the opposition MLAs following NDA`s landslide victory in the election recently, Kumar said irrespective of the internal
constitution of the house, "the opposition`s participation in parliamentary democracy is of utmost importance and they should be given full time to express their views, irrespective
of their strengths, whenever it is necessary."
"With full respect to the people`s mandate, we should take pledge for taking Bihar forward in its march for development and ending the state`s backwardness," he said.
RJD leader in the house Abdul Bari Siddiqui also expressed happiness over Choudhary`s unanimous election to the post of speaker.
Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi also hailed his unanimous election to the post and hoped that the new speaker.
PTI
