Bihar Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary Thursday notified JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary as the leader of opposition in the assembly, replacing BJP\'s Nand Kishore Yadav.

The speaker accepted former chief minister Nitish Kumar\'s demand of giving the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) the status of the main opposition party.

The BJP legislators Thursday created a ruckus and protested in the Bihar assembly complex against the decision to appoint the JD-U leader as the leader of opposition.

\"We will not sit silently...giving the status of the opposition party to JD-U is not correct. We will protest against this move,\" Yadav told IANS.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to formally announce Thursday whether it will support Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in the trust vote Friday. A meeting of BJP MLAs was held at senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi\'s residence here.

Manjhi needs 117 votes to remain the chief minister.

BJP protests against Bihar speaker\'s decision

The BJP Thursday protested against Bihar Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary\'s decision to notify JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary as the leader of opposition in the state assembly, replacing the party\'s Nand Kishore Yadav.

\"The BJP has not yet announced whether we have to support any party. How did the speaker take away the opposition party tag from the BJP?\" asked senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.

\"We protest against this move as well as the way the Janata Dal-United is treating Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is a Mahadalit,\" he said at a press conference here.

Hussain also said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nothing to with the charges of horse-trading being made by former chief minister Nitish Kumar\'s camp.

\"We want everything to be decided on the floor of the assembly,\" he said.

Though BJP MLAs in Bihar wanted to support Manjhi, a decision would be taken after a meeting of senior party functionaries later in the day, said Hussain.

Bihar\'s ruling JD-U expelled Manjhi Feb 9 from the party for allegedly \"indulging in anti-party activities\". But Manjhi has refused to resign.

Bihar speaker recognises JD-U as opposition party; BJP protests