Former Bihar Chief Minister and President of Hindustani Awam Morcha party Jitan Ram Manjhi was appointed as the Protem Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Governor Fagu Chauhan administered the oath of office to Manjhi at Raj Bhavan.
According to the statement issued from the Governor’s Secretariat, ‘Governor Fagu Chauhan administered the oath to Jitan Ram Manjhi, MLA from Imamganj, to discharge the duties of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the Governor has appointed Jeetan Ram Manjhi, Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly to perform the duties of the Speaker from 23 to 24 November till the election of the Speaker.
For the selection of a member for this post, the State Governor convenes a brief session for a majority test in the Assembly. Here the appointment of a Protem Speaker, or the occasional Speaker, is done through a fixed process. For this, a majority is proved on this post in the House. Then the MLA elected on the Protem Speaker has the responsibility to administer the oath. The constitution empowers the Governor to appoint a Protem Speaker (occasional Speaker). According to this article, when the chair of the Speaker becomes vacant and there is no Deputy Chairman to fill the post, the duties of the office are performed by a member of the Legislative Assembly who is appointed by the Governor.
He has been given this responsibility for the first session of the 17th Assembly. Manjhi as the pro tem speaker will administer the newly elected MLAs to the Assembly.
