look news india
Whenever the most conscious, turbulent and interesting politics is discussed on the political scene of India, the name of Bihar comes at the top. It is not easy even for big political analysts to predict when which equation will be formed on the political ground here and which new history will be written. These days, when there is a lot of excitement in the state regarding the Legislative Council (MLC) elections and voter lists, the pages of the past of Bihar politics are also being turned. Generally the general public believes that to become the Chief Minister of any state, it is mandatory for that person to reach the Legislative Assembly by directly getting elected as an MLA. But there is a very important and special provision in the Indian Constitution and our parliamentary democracy, under which a person can reach the highest post of the state i.e. the Chief Minister’s chair through the Legislative Council, even without directly contesting the elections or losing the assembly elections. The political history of Bihar has been the biggest witness to the fact that there have been many veteran leaders who have taken over the reins of the government while playing their political innings as MLC.
If we take a deep look at the political history of Bihar, there have been not just one or two but a total of 7 such Chief Ministers who, during their tenure, took charge of governance through the Legislative Council (MLC) instead of being Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). This list includes the names of many veteran and influential leaders of the state who, with their political foresight and party support, guided the politics of the state for a long time. The beginning and continuation of this tradition proves that under Article 164 (4) of the Indian Constitution, any person who is a member of either House of the Legislature can be made a Minister or Chief Minister. Since there is a system of bicameral legislature (Assembly and Legislative Council) in Bihar, due to political circumstances, by-election complexities or strategic reasons, sometimes leaders considered it better and safer to choose the Legislative Council path.
This list also includes the name of the biggest face of the current political scenario and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has been in power in Bihar for a long time. On many occasions, instead of contesting assembly elections, he has been taking oath as the Chief Minister of the state as a member of the Legislative Council and leading the House. Apart from them, if we go through the pages of history, many names like Mahamaya Prasad Sinha, Anugrah Narayan Singh (who served as Deputy Chief Minister and on key posts) and Abdul Ghafoor come to the fore, who successfully ran their government through the Legislative Council, proving their political and administrative abilities. For these leaders, the upper house of the House i.e. the Legislative Council proved to be a platform for ideological debate, determination of policies and administrative control from where they controlled the administrative machinery of the entire state with great efficiency and always kept their political hold strong.
Political experts believe that the Legislative Council was created by the makers of our Constitution not as a ‘house of elders’ or a rest house, but as a platform for great deliberation and review. In states where there is a bicameral system, apart from the direct elections of the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly, these indirectly elected representatives play a huge role in maintaining the intellectual and ideological balance of the state. Whenever such a situation arises in a state that a key leader is not in a position to contest elections directly or due to political equations he needs a safe route, then this route of the Legislative Council has always proved to be a strong constitutional option. The history of these 7 Chief Ministers of Bihar is a living proof that in democracy, the public’s faith and the support of the majority within the House is the most important thing.