Amid the Jharkhand government’s decision to allocate a room inside the Assembly for offering namaz, the demand for a separate room in the Bihar Assembly is resonating.

Bihar BJP MLA Hari Bhushan Thakur said that if a room can be allocated (in Jharkhand Assembly) to offer namaz in the secular country, why shouldn’t there be a separate room for chanting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’.

The BJP lawmaker said that everyone is equal before the Constitution and would meet Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha to demand a separate room in the Bihar Vidhan Bhawan for those who want to recite Hanuman Chalisa.

Thakur’s demand comes amid the Hemant Soren government announced the allotment of a room for offering namaz inside the Jharkhand Assembly.

The Jharkhand BJP has raised strong protests against the Soren government with lawmakers disrupted the House proceedings by raising slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Niyojan Niti Wapas Lo’ (recall employment policy) and ‘Hindi Virodhi Sarkar’ (government is opposed to Hindi).

The BJP has demanded allocation of 30 minutes every week for reciting the Hanuman Chalisa.

“If a room can be alloted for namaz, why can’t 30 minutes be allotted for Hanuman Chalisa? I take pride in being a Hindu,” BJP MLA CP Singh said.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki has demanded a prayer room for Muslims in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

“I am an MLA for the past 15 years. Many times when assembly proceedings are going on, we Muslim MLAs have to leave the assembly to offer namaz.

“If there is a small prayer room in the Assembly we won’t have to leave proceedings. On many occasions if you have a question in the pipeline and it is the time for ‘azaan’ (prayer call), you can either ask the question or offer namaz,” said the SP MLA from Sisamau seat in Kanpur.