Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi on March 15 questioned Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari's authority to reconvene the Assembly adjourned sine die on March 13 and said he had called a Cabinet meeting to decide the date of a confidence vote he was asked by the Governor on March 14 night to hold on the floor of the House by March 31.

"Once the House is adjourned sine die, the responsibility to reconvene the House shifts to the leader of the House (CM) and the Cabinet will decide this (March 15) evening as to when the session should restart," Marandi told reporters.

Marandi claimed, "According to Assembly rules, once the House is adjourned sine die, the responsibility of reconvening the House shifts to the leader of the House (Chief Minister)."

The Chief Minister also questioned how the Speaker announced the date, even after knowing that the advisory committee had decided that the House would go on a holiday from March 14 to 20 on account of Muharram and Holi.

Replying to another query as to whether the Speaker had intimated him on his decision, Marandi said, ''I did not have any discussion with the Speaker. And I will meet the Governor at 3:00 pm (IST) to discuss the matter.''

Marandi was speaking to reporters after a meeting chaired by the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national general secretary Rajnath Singh, who is here to review the political situation in the state.

PTI