LUCKNOW: The first session of the 18th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh is set to begin on a stormy note with the Samajwadi Party - the main opposition party -- aiming to corner the BJP-led state government on the issue of price rise and law and order.
"The current BJP-led government in the state is responsible for the price rise of various commodities ranging from fuel to vegetables, fruits and edible oil. The law and order situation in the state has worsened. The health sector is in a very bad shape, and patients' attendants are being beaten up in hospitals in Kanpur," Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Sishamau Assembly constituency in Kanpur told PTI.
"The situation is very grim. We will raise all these issues in the assembly, and will seek an answer from the government," he said. He said that the BJP-led government has "miserably failed" on all fronts.
The session will commence on Monday with UP governor Anandiben Patel addressing the members of Legislative Assembly as well as the Legislative Council, special secretary to UP Vidhan Sabha Brij Bhushan Dubey said.
The 2022-2023 Budget is likely to be tabled on Thursday. Other parties' leaders too said they are seeking to corner the ruling party on constant rise in commodity price and also on rising unemployment.
Congress MLA from Pharenda constituency in Maharajganj district told PTI, "The people of the state are facing the brunt of price rise and joblessness. These are the issues, which we will raise in the house."
Lone BSP MLA Uma Shankar Singh mentioned frequent power cuts as one of the pressing issues in his party's agenda.
"My effort will be to raise the problems the state government has ignored. The main problem is that of price rise. Another problem being faced by the people is of disruptions in electricity supply, which was better in the previous tenure. In villages, there is very little supply of electricity, and even in posh localities of the state capital, there are frequent power cuts," he said.
Currently, the BJP has 255 MLAs, while its allies -- Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the Nishad party -- has 12 and six MLAs.
The SP has 111 MLAs, while its allies, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), have eight and six MLAs respectively. The Congress and the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik have two MLAs each. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has one MLA.
Speaker Satish Mahana had earlier said that the house will seek to fulfil aspirations of people from the very first session. He had said Uttar Pradesh is first among the bigger states where e-Vidhan has been implemented, under which every member of the Assembly has been assigned a seat, each of which equipped with a tablet.
Asked if he felt his job would be challenging since the number of opposition MLAs had increased, Mahana in a recent interview to PTI had said, "I know that I have to do my job and it does not make any difference to me if the strength of the Opposition has increased. When I occupy the Speaker's chair, everyone will be equal to me."
"My job is to ensure the smooth running of the House. After the election of the Speaker, I had said (to the MLAs) that the work that you can do outside, why do you want to do it here? And the work that you can do here, you cannot do outside. You should do the work for which people have sent you here," he had said.
The speaker had said though he could not change the "style" of work of people, he definitely would make efforts to bring about a smooth functioning of the house.
"Disruptions can happen in a democracy, but only within the permissible limit. If somebody exceeds that limit, I will have to exercise my powers. But, I feel that everybody will be interested in the smooth functioning of the Assembly," Mahana had said. "When I occupy the speaker's chair, all relationships will take a back seat."