In a sudden climb-down, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday suspended its party legislator Lal Babu Prasad accused of “sexually harassing” a female colleague from the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ram Vilas Paswan after constantly defending its leader for two days.

The development follows as the ruling alliance leaders launched massive attacks on the BJP for allegedly shielding the accused legislator and ignoring concerns of female security. Strangely, the husband of the victim woman also happens to be a BJP legislator.

For the past two days since the incident took place in the corridors of the state assembly on Wednesday, the BJP had constantly denied any such incident had taken place. They remained silent even as the ruling alliance stepped up attacks on them and questioned their “sensitivity” towards the female class.

All of a sudden, however, the party initiated a series of action against Prasad, much to everyone surprise. First, it was state party president Nityanand Rai, who removed the accused lawmaker as party’s vice-president and denied him any place in the newly-constituted State Working Committee of the BJP.

Then came former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi who announced through his Twitter handle that the legislator in question has been suspended. “Lal babu Pd MLC suspended from primary membership of BJP,” Modi tweeted. Ironically, Prasad was considered too close to Modi and hence always enjoyed key position in the organisation.

Eventually, the Bihar Legislative Council chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh who is also from the BJP announced the matter concerning the misconduct of the legislator has been referred to the Ethic Committee of the House for probe. He also announced Mr Prasad has been removed from the Council Committee on Pollution and Environment.

A single act of the BJP leader robbed him all posts and clouts. It all happened when Mr Prasad allegedly misbehaved with a LJP MLA Nutan Singh who was up to the stairs of the Legislative council on Wednesday afternoon. An enraged Mrs Singh soon called up her husband Niraj Singh ‘Babloo’, a BJP legislator, and informed him about the entire incident.

Babloo who was present in the House then instantly came looking for his BJP colleague, caught him in the corridor of the House and then gave him the sound thrashing until the other lawmakers intervened and separated them. Reports said the BJP legislator went on assaulting his colleague Prasad even as the later claimed innocence. Subsequently, they lodged a written complaint with the Council chairman and it was only then that the entire issue took a serious turn.