Patna, February 16 The Bihar Assembly witnessed uproar on Monday as the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), a junior ally of the ruling NDA, accused the RJD of insulting the late Ram Vilas Paswan, a former Union minister, while the main opposition party demanded an increase in quotas for marginalized castes to 85 per cent.
Speaker Prem Kumar adjourned the House until 2 pm after his appeals for calm went unheeded.
As the proceedings began, members of the LJP(L), led by Union Minister Chirag Paswan, demanded an apology from the RJD, alleging that one of its members had recently insulted Ram Vilas Paswan, the late father of the party's president.
This referred to the use of the Hindi word "bechara" (helpless) by Bodh Gaya MLA Kumar Sarvajeet, who is incidentally also a Dalit himself, while speaking about Paswan inside the House last week.
On Sunday, the LJP(L) also staged a protest against the remark and burned an effigy of RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the assembly.
However, on Monday, when journalists approached Kumar Sarvajeet with queries, he said, "The LJP(L) is trying to divert attention from the numerous attacks on the rights of SCs, STs, and OBCs by the BJP-led government at the Centre. Chirag Paswan has been maintaining a deafening silence. I had said that things would not have come to this pass had the late Ram Vilas Paswan been alive."
As soon as the proceedings began, LJP(L) state president Raju Tiwari said, "The RJD member's remarks reflected the opposition party's anti-Dalit mindset. We demand an apology for the insult to our ideological father."
The Speaker chose to continue with the Question Hour, but, during Zero Hour, LJP(L) raised the demand for an apology again, and the RJD MLAs reacted by waving placards with slogans demanding an increase in quotas for marginalized castes to 85 per cent, exceeding the 50 per cent cap fixed by the Supreme Court.
As the uproar continued, the Speaker adjourned the House until 2 pm.