UP Assembly witnesses ruckus as SP rakes up Akhilesh airport row

Protests by legislators of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP over Akhilesh Yadav being stopped at the Lucknow airport eclipsed the Question Hour in the state Assembly on Wednesday. The pre-lunch sitting saw two adjournments as opposition members vociferously raised the issue. Amid uproar, Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit adjourned the House first for 30 minutes and then for the entire Question Hour.

As soon as the House met, SP leader Narendra Verma tried to raise the issue during Question Hour. He was instantly supported by BSP legislature party leader Lalji Verma, who said, "Lathicharge was done in the entire state by police and fake cases were lodged against protestors. An MP (SP's Dharmendra Yadav) was injured in the lathicharge."

"There is 'Hitlershahi' in the state as the government is resorting to activities which demean democracy," he claimed. Countering Verma, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said as the opposition does not have any issue they are creating anarchy in the state.

"Our government is committed to the welfare of people and development of the state," he added. When the speaker did not allow discussion on the matter during the Question Hour, opposition members trooped to the Well raising anti-government slogans.

The Speaker then adjourned the House for 30 minutes and later extended it to the entire Question Hour. Before the House met, a delegation of SP and BSP leader called on Governor Ram Naik and handed over a memorandum seeking his intervention into the situation.

The delegation comprised SP leader Ahmad Hasan, BSP's Verma and a number of MLAs and MLCs from both the parties. "We strongly condemn the dictatorial attitude of the Yogi Adityanath government. SP workers will not tolerate such action. Not only us, but people of the state will also give a befitting reply in the Lok Sabha elections," SP MLC Sunil Yadav Sajan told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan here.

(With inputs from agencies.)