Both Houses of the Bihar legislature were adjourned for the day after obituary references on the inaugural day of the Monsoon session on Friday.
The day also witnessed protest demonstrations by opposition parties like the Congress and the CPI(ML) as its legislators demanded that Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), which has claimed over 150 lives since the beginning of the month, be declared an epidemic.
They also demanded that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sack state health minister Mangal Pandey for the failure to control the outbreak.
Leaders of the RJD, the main opposition party with the largest number of members in the assembly, tried to explain the absence of Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who has been away from the city for long, with his whereabouts not known to most leaders in the party.
Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, the Leader of the Opposition in the legislative council, snapped at reporters who queried about Tejashwi Yadav, saying "aapke ghar ke andar hai (he is inside your homes)".
Later, while exiting the premises, she said, "He is not hiding or loitering around. Wherever he is, he is doing the job that is expected of him."
The protracted monsoon session will conclude on July 26 during which, among other things, the first supplementary budget will be tabled by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio.
The session will also provide an opportunity to the opposition to corner the ruling dispensation over other issues like the drought-like situation in many districts and the deteriorating law and order situation, especially a spurt in crimes against women.
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