By Admin 
As soon as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections, discussions have started in the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance regarding the formation of a new government in Bihar. There is no clarity regarding the new government between BJP and Janata Dal United. Meanwhile, news is coming that JDU has demanded the post of Speaker of Bihar Assembly.
Currently this post is held by nine-time BJP MLA Prem Kumar. The question arises that what are the powers that strengthen the position of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. And why both the parties in the alliance want this post for their party.
Who is Prem Kumar and how did he become Assembly Speaker?
Prem Kumar is a nine-time MLA from Gaya Nagar assembly constituency. In the 2015 assembly elections, when Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav once again formed an alliance after a long time, BJP had to face defeat in the victory of JDU-RJD alliance and during that time Prem Kumar was also the leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly. Prem Kumar was unanimously elected Speaker of the Bihar Assembly after the November 2025 assembly elections held on 1 December 2025. Now JDU wants this post to come to their party.
Assembly Speaker has extraordinary powers
The Speaker of the Assembly does not merely preside over the assembly. Which member will speak when, how much will he speak, how much time will he get for discussion and even permission to introduce a bill in the House is given by the Speaker of the Assembly. He also has the powers to maintain discipline. Apart from this, the final decision on any discussion taking place in the Assembly rests with the Speaker of the Assembly.
If any MLA wants to resign from his post, then the final decision also lies with the Speaker of the Assembly. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly also has the right to take the final decision on the anti-defection law included in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India. If an MLA changes the party line, violates the whip or goes against the party, then the Speaker of the Assembly finally decides whether his membership will remain or not.
Apart from this, the final decision on whether a bill is a money bill or not also rests with the Speaker of the Assembly under Article 199. Normally the Speaker of the Assembly does not cast a vote, but if both sides have equal votes on a discussion, he can cast a deciding vote. Adjourning the proceedings of the House and forming committees also comes under his authority.
Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra- When the Speaker changed the direction of politics
Many times in history, the powers of the Assembly Speaker have changed the political equations. Year In 2018, Congress won elections in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Kamal Nath. Formed a government. In March 2020, 22 Congress MLAs resigned under the leadership of Jyotiraditya Scindia, reducing the government to minority. BJP demanded floor test but the then Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati postponed the floor test using his powers.
As soon as the budget session started on 16 March 2020, the House was adjourned till 26 March citing Covid-19. Along with this, the resignations of all the 22 rebel MLAs were not accepted together so that pressure could be put on the remaining MLAs. Later Shivraj Singh Chauhan demanded a floor test in the Supreme Court and a special session was called on the orders of the Supreme Court but before that Kamal Nath resigned.
In the year 2019, during the HD Kumaraswamy government of Congress-JDS alliance in Karnataka, many MLAs resigned but the then Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar did not immediately accept the resignations. He asked the MLAs to come personally and confirm, which prolonged the process. The matter reached the Supreme Court and ultimately the Kumaraswamy government fell.
Similarly, in the year 2022, Eknath Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra. The process of disqualifying the rebel MLAs started but the matter reached the Supreme Court and Uddhav Thackeray resigned even before the floor test.
That’s why JDU wants the post of Speaker?
It is clear from these examples that the Speaker of the Assembly can delay accepting resignations, disqualify MLAs, postpone the floor test and adjourn the House. This is the reason why Nitish Kumar’s party JDU wants to keep this post at any cost, which is currently held by BJP’s Prem Kumar. Now a new dilemma has started in the politics of Bihar regarding this.