Patna: Lawmakers in Bihar on Friday agreed to maintain the dignity and decorum of the House, a day after they engaged in a shabby scuffle and came to fisticuffs for the first time in the 103-year-old history of the Legislative Council — the Upper House of the state legislature, also known as the House of Elders.

The elders not only shoved and pushed rivals members aside but also used unparliamentary language towards one another. The entire incident took place even as school children were present to watch the House proceedings.

The lawmakers expressed deep regret over their conduct and promised to maintain the sanctity of the House in the future at an all-party meeting called by the council chairman on Friday to debate the seriousness of the situation.

Soon after the incident, the main opposition Bhartiya Janata party accused former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar of instigating his party member to clash with them after which the former announced he would not attend the House until he was cleared of the charge.

On the other hand, the ruling Janata Dal (United) moved a proposal in the House seeking suspension of four BJP lawmakers from the rest of the current assembly session for their “misconduct”.

“The prevailing deadlock has now come to an end with the support of either side. Both the sides expressed deep regret of their conduct and assured they would help run the House business smoothly in [the] future,” state Legislative Council chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh told the media on Friday at the end of the all-party meeting. As the deadlock ended, the former chief minister attended the House, which ran in a cordial atmosphere. For its part, the JD-U too withdrew its demand to suspend four BJP lawmakers from the current session.

The state witnessed a new low in parliamentary democracy on Thursday when erstwhile NDA partners nearly came to blows in the House in the presence of the senior members, such as former chief minister Kumar and Leader of the Opposition Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP. TV footage showed the warring sides not only hurling unparliamentary words at each another but also scuffling. Eventually, the House marshals had to be called in to physically separate the clashing members.

Trouble broke out when BJP leader Modi interrupted a discussion while the water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary was replying to a question related to curtailment in allotment of money to be given to Dalit children to encourage them in education. Peeved at frequent interruptions, one of the JD-U lawmakers Sanjay Singh accused Modi of always standing up from his seat and intervening in the debate.

Objecting to this comment, Modi hurriedly rushed to the well of the House demanding that comments be expunged from the records. Other BJP members soon followed him in the well. He was soon shouted down as the JD-U members who too rushed to the well rolled up their sleeves, and a virtual scuffle took place among them, which continued for about 20 minutes until House marshals were called in.

Soon after the incident, the BJP leaders accused Kumar of instigating his party members to indulge in such act. “Whatever happened in the House was very shameful. Although the assaults did not take place, it just stopped short of taking place. Perhaps, the ruling party wants to throttle the voice of the opposition by hurling abuses,” alleged Modi.

Kumar on his part denied all such allegations and sought a probe into the entire matter. Stating that he was deeply hurt at such kind of allegations levelled against him in his 30 year-old political career, Kumar also announced not to attend the House proceeding until a probe was ordered into it and he stood cleared of such charges. The JD-U reacted by demanding a suspension of the four BJP lawmakers for their “misconduct”. One of the BJP lawmakers against whom action was demanded included state BJP president Mangal Pandey.

It was in the light of such situation that the Council chairman had called an all-party meeting on Friday and much to everyone’s relief, the matter came to a happy end.