As Nitish Kumar and his JD(U) return to the NDA fold to form a new government in Bihar, one of the two deputy chief ministers from the BJP is Vijay Kumar Sinha, the representative from Lakhisarai who was the Leader of the Opposition (LoP). On Sunday, as a precursor to that, Sinha was elected as deputy leader of the BJP legislature party.

A Bhumihar leader, a civil engineer by qualification and a former RSS worker, Sinha had become the BJP’s first-ever Speaker in Bihar after the party came to power in alliance with the JD(U) in 2020. The 56-year-old was a surprise choice for the post, believed to have been picked essentially to keep the upper caste leadership of the party happy.

He pipped to the post-BJP veterans like Nand Kishore Yadav and Prem Kumar, whose names had been doing the rounds. A first-generation politician from a business family, he had boasted during his first election campaign in 2010 that he had enough money to sustain himself and that he had joined politics for social service and some recognition. What worked in Sinha’s favour to be named Speaker were his three terms as MLA (winning Lakhisarai consecutively since 2010) and earlier stint as labour resources minister. He was also seen to have been groomed by the most respected BJP face in Bihar and former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.

As Speaker, Sinha proved his worth to the BJP by not being intimidated by Nitish or the then Opposition RJD.

In March 2021, Sinha had faced Opposition criticism for not “properly handling” the roughing up of an RJD and a Congress MLA on the Assembly premises after the House had passed the Special Armed Police Act, giving more powers to police to search people, without a warrant, and make arrests, amid protests by Opposition MLAs. RJD MLAs had rushed to Sinha’s chair, torn papers and laid siege to his chambers, virtually holding him hostage inside. Police had to be called in, to remove the protesting MLAs, with many of them dragged and carried out on stretchers.

In March 2022, a heated exchange took place between Speaker Sinha and CM Nitish on whether a matter being probed by the government, which had also been referred to a privilege committee, could be raised on the floor of the House time and again. Nitish made his displeasure evident when Sinha asked Cabinet minister Bijendra Yadav to apprise the House of the steps taken in an incident involving police action in Lakhisarai, Sinha’s constituency, for the second time.

The incident involved alleged violation of the liquor prohibition law in Lakhisarai during Saraswati Puja by people with links to the BJP. Sinha claimed that “mere spectators” were rounded up by police, while organisers reportedly linked to the JD(U) were let off. BJP MLAs moved a privilege notice against Lakhisarai Deputy Superintendent of Police Ranjan Kumar and two SHOs for alleged misconduct with Sinha when he raised the issue.

Following the altercation with Nitish, Sinha had excused himself from the Chair, with the CM meeting him later in the day for a reconciliation. Weeks later, Lakhisarai got a new DSP.

Another well-documented clash between Sinha and Nitish was the then Speaker’s decision to omit the CM’s name from invitations sent out to mark anniversary celebrations of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha in July 2022. As per JD(U) sources, that was one of the triggers for Nitish to end his alliance with the BJP soon after.

When Nitish went on to form the Mahagathbandhan government with the RJD and Congress, the BJP picked Sinha for LoP, again ahead of expected choices such as former Deputy CMs Tarkishor Prasad and Renu Devi. Sinha became the third upper caste leader picked by the BJP after Yashwant Sinha and Ashwini Kumar Choubey as its legislature party leader since 1995.

“The party believes that only Sinha can take on Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi with his aggressive and forceful presentation of the party’s stand. The way he had defended his position as Assembly Speaker in the face of attack by CM Nitish, he got the confidence of the party high command as well as the state leadership,” a BJP MLA had said at the time.

However, Sinha has often rubbed own party leaders too the wrong way. In March 2021, then Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad had accused Sinha when he was Speaker of extending “sanrakshan (patronage)” to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, then the LoP. Sinha had reacted, saying: “Those who resolve to act in a transparent manner, cannot keep all happy.”

The same month, the Assembly had also witnessed a confrontation between the then Panchayati Raj Minister Samrat Choudhary and Sinha. Sinha had complained about online replies not reaching his office. Choudhary had contested this, adding: “Vyakul hone se kaam nahin chalega (Getting restless will not do)”.

On Sunday, the two shared the stage as Bihar’s new deputy CMs.