LUCKNOW: The budget session of the UP legislature got off to a fiery start with opposition parties including the Congress and Samajwadi Party staging a huge protest inside the house during the speech of Governor Anandi Ben Patel here on Thursday.
After the Governor’s speech, the house was adjourned for the day by Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit. Meanwhile, the state budget for the current financial year would be presented by UP Finance Minister Suresh Khanna on Tuesday.
As the governor started her speech, opposition leaders, carrying posters and placards, trooped into the well of the house shouting slogans on a host of issues including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register for Citizens (NRC), law and order and price rise. The session commenced with a joint sitting of both the houses of the state legislature as it is the first session of the new year.
Earlier, before assembling in the house, the Congress and SP leaders sat on a dharna on the premises of the Vidhan Bhawan under the statue of former PM Chaudhury Charan Singh.
The session, which commenced on Thursday, will conclude on March 7.
Earlier, CM Yogi Adityanath, at an all-party meeting on Wednesday, had urged all the opposition leaders to extend cooperation in running the house and fulfilling the legislative responsibilities. In response, the opposition had demanded an adequate hearing on issues related to the common man in the house.
While the protests by the Samajwadi Party MLAs and MLCs were led by the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ram Govind Chaudhary, Congress lawmakers were led by CLP leader Aradhana Mishra and party MLC Deepak Singh.
Attacking the state government, Chaudhary claimed that even after three years of getting elected to power, the Yogi government had yet to start working as a dispensation. “They are just inaugurating projects introduced by the previous Akhilesh Yadav government. The state government does not have even a 25-ft high building constructed in the state capital to its credit so far,” he said.
“Now, the Yogi government is tampering with the provision of reservation. It is trying to trample the rights of Dalits and backward communities. The government is helping private companies through privatisation and misguiding the people of the state,” alleged Chaudhary while speaking in the house.