UP Monsoon session: First day washed out

The first day of the Uttar Pradesh legislature's Monsoon Session was washed out Thursday with both houses getting adjourned for the day without conducting any business. While the legislative assembly was adjourned after members made obituary references, the legislative council followed suit amid repeated furore by Samajwadi Party members over the massacre of ten dalits in Sonbhadra district over a festering land dispute.

As soon as the Upper House met for the day, the SP members stormed the Well of the House raising anti-government slogans and displaying placards on the Wednesday killings in Sonbhdra in a shootout over a land dispute. They also slammed the government over the killings of two constables in Sambhal by criminals who attacked a jail van and helped escape three prisoners from the custody on the same day.

The BSP and Congress members too stood at their respective seats in the House and kept raising anti-government slogans. As tempers ran high, the Chair adjourned the House for 30 minutes due to which questions listed for the day could not be taken up.

At the end of 30 minutes, the adjournment was extended by another 30 minutes. When the House reassembled, SP members again trooped

into the Well of the House and began raising slogans against the BJP government accusing it of having failed in containing the the law and order situation in the state.

With the BSP and Congress members too joining the protest and raising slogans from their seats, Chairman Ramesh Yadav adjouned the House for the day. The Upper House too earlier paid tribute to six former members who died in the inter-session period. They are Devi Dayal

Shastri, Tanveer Haidar Usmani, Madhuban Singh, Anwar Ahmad, Harprasad Tiwari and Dr Y D Singh.

The state assembly paid tribute to BJP MLA Jagan Prasad Garg, who died in April. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed condolence over the death of Agra North MLA Garg.

He said Garg was involved in various social activities and his death was an irreparable loss to the party and the House. Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury, Congress leader Aradhana Mishra Mona, BSP leader Lalji Verma and others also read out their condolence messages.

The House then observed two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

After the obituary references, Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit adjourned the House for the day. Earlier, Samajwadi Party legislators belonging to both

houses staged a sit-in protest before Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the Vidhan Bhawan premises. Donning red caps, they sought to corner the BJP over law and order situation in the state, saying the Wednesday's killings in Sonbhadra and attack on the policemen in Sambhal were testimonies to the state's worsening law and order situation.

They twin incidents have also exposed the tall claims of the Adityanath government over controlling crimes in the state, he said. The SP MLAs also expressed concern over the plight of farmers under the current dispensation.

Speaking to reporters, SP's UP unit chief Naresh Uttam said, "The law and order machinery in the state has come to a grinding halt and false cases are being registered against the SP workers and leaders." He claimed almost three dozen fake cases have been registered against senior party leader and MP Azam Khan.

"We will raise these issues in the House and strongly protest against the repressive policies of this government," he said. PTI ABN NAV SMI RAX

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