New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prem Kumar on December 2 was elected as the speaker of the 18th Bihar legislative assembly.
An Eighth-term MLA from Gaya Town, Kumar was elected unopposed as he was the only one to file nomination for the prestigious post on December 1.
Kumar is the third leader from BJP to took charge as speaker in the Bihar Legislative Assembly after Vijay Kumar Sinha and Nand Kishore Yadav.
Interacting with media, the BJP veteran stated that he will fulfil the responsibility given to him by taking along both the opposition and the ruling party.
#WATCH | Patna | On being chosen as Bihar Assembly Speaker, BJP MLA Prem Kumar says, "In keeping with the tradition of our democracy, I was offered a seat on the stage by the Chief Minister and LoP Tejashwi Yadav. I welcome both leaders, thank them, and certainly take everyone… pic.twitter.com/0mHGq2mE1G
— ANI (@ANI) December 2, 2025
Kumar who defeated the Congress party candidate Akhaury Onkar Nath by a margin of more than 26k votes in the recently concluded Bihar state assembly polls had earlier served as the state’s Environment and Co-operative Minister.
The 70-year-old leader had also served as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Bihar Assembly between 2015 and 2017.
Earlier on Monday, the inaugural session of the 18th Bihar Legislative Assembly convened with Pro-tem speaker Narendra Narayan Yadav administering the oath of the newly elected members.
Diversity was full on display with leaders from across separate regions taking oath in various languages. As many as 14 members hailing from Mithilanchal region took the pledge in Maithili, including the singer turned politician Maithili Thakur.
Thakur who was donning the traditional head-gear known as the ‘Mithila Paag’ becomes the state youngest ever legislature. “It’s a very big day for me, as I have become an MLA after taking the oath today. It is the beginning of a new life today,” said an elated Thakur.
#WATCH | Patna | On being chosen as Bihar Assembly Speaker, BJP MLA Prem Kumar says, "In keeping with the tradition of our democracy, I was offered a seat on the stage by the Chief Minister and LoP Tejashwi Yadav. I welcome both leaders, thank them, and certainly take everyone… pic.twitter.com/0mHGq2mE1G
— ANI (@ANI) December 2, 2025
Two of the MLAs including former deputy CM Tarkishor Prasad and Janata Dal United’s Ratnesh Sada took the oath in Sanskrit. Two of the MLAs took oath in English while members of the AIMIM and a few others opting for Urdu.
235 out of the total 243 MLAs took oath of the office on the first day including deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha and LoP Tejashwi Yadav.
The BJP-JDU led NDA return to the power in a grand manner registering victories on 202 out of the 243 state assembly seats with opposition Mahagathbandhan winning only 35 of the recently concluded Bihar state assembly polls.
