SP, RLD walk out of UP Assembly, say govt failed to discuss people's issues

The Samajwadi Party and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal on Friday boycotted proceedings of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and walked out of the House, alleging that the government did not discuss issues of inflation and unemployment.Led by their chief Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party legislators staged the walkout soon after the House proceedings started on the last day of the five-day monsoon session.

The Samajwadi Party and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal on Friday boycotted proceedings of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and walked out of the House, alleging that the government did not discuss issues of inflation and unemployment.

Led by their chief Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party legislators staged the walkout soon after the House proceedings started on the last day of the five-day monsoon session. They also took out a march to the party's headquarters.

The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MLAs followed their ally. Reacting to it, the government submitted in the House that there have been extensive reforms in every field, including education, health and employment generation. ''But the Leader of the Opposition might definitely be having some other agenda due to which he left the House,'' Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said attacking Yadav.

Khanna claimed that his government has replied to every issue raised in the House.

At the party office later, Yadav told reporters that the government is trying to run away from discussion on basic issues by keeping the session shorter. Citing fee hike at Allahabad University, Yadav asked how poor children will be able to pay high fee for studies. Students of Allahabad University have been agitating for 800 days for the demand of student union elections but the government responded with 500 times increase in their fee as a ''gift'', Yadav said.

''The government should make it clear how women will be protected because the statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau and Women's Commission say that Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of crime incidents against women,'' he said.

''Law and order has completely collapsed in the state,'' Yadav said alleging that the government is not responding to the issues of people.

''The government should answer on inflation, what concrete steps have been taken to provide employment and what measures taken on the law and order front,'' he added. Yadav said the government wants to make the state a USD 1 trillion economy but asked what steps they have taken for it.

The government does not want to hold proceedings of the House for a longer duration, the SP chief said asking why the session was only five days. The monsoon session of the Assembly, which started on Monday, will conclude this evening.

SP's national spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the government does not want to discuss issues related to the public in the House so the SP MLAs decided to boycott the proceedings.

The party's chief whip in the Assembly, Manoj Pandey, alleged that problems of farmers are not being heard under the BJP rule. Inflation and unemployment are at their peak but the government does not want to discuss these issues, he said.

The House proceedings continued in the absence of the SP and RLD members.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)