India, Nov. 25 -- The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Vijay Kumar Sinha on Wednesday elected as Speaker of the Bihar Assembly through voice vote.

Vijay Kumar Sinha beat his Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) rival Awadh Bihari Choudhary by 12 votes.

Sinha got 126 votes while 114 polled in favour of Awadh Bihari Chaudhary.

The opposition demanded voting by secret ballot which was turned down by pro-tem Speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi.

Later, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav escorted Sinha to the Speaker's chair.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Tehelka....