By refusing to hide, new Speaker broke from a British tradition

LUCKNOW: All eyes looked for veteran BJP official Hriday Narain Dixit when protem speaker Fateh Bahadur Singh announced his (Dixit's) election as the new speaker of the UP assembly on Thursday . As per tradition, the `speakerelect' should have been in another room -or not present among the MLAs -when his name was announced. But, a smiling Dixit sat in the front row with a group of MLAs in a break from convention. He was then taken jointly by the CM and the leader of opposition to his chair.

Later, while addressing the members, Dixit revealed how, by remaining seated with MLAs, he broke from a British tradition. He informed the House that parliamentary traditions of the country had developed on the pattern of British Parliament where the speaker acted as a messenger of the House to the monarch. He said, nearly half-a-dozen speakers were killed in British history for carrying unfavourable messages of the House to the king or queen. So, the House began concealing the identity of the speaker. Later, this became a tradition. At the time of their appointment or election, the speaker-elect would hide himself and then the prime minister would search for him and produce him before Parliament.

“This has been the practice in UP assembly: that the speaker-elect would hide himself in the office of the legislature party or behind a chair, and once he is formally elected, he is brought out from the `hiding' by the leader of the House. “In an Independent country , why should a British legacy , which can be done away with, continue?“ Dixit said, as members broke into laughter.