UP Assembly: Ruckus hits Question Hour, 3rd time in monsoon session

Lucknow, Aug 21: The entire Question Hour was on Friday washed out for the third time in the Monsoon session of Uttar Pradesh Assembly amidst an uproar by opposition parties over various issues.

As the House assembled at 11 AM, BJP members sought to bring up the issue of implementation of a high court order that all government servants, elected representatives and members of judiciary send their children to government primary schools while Congress and RLD members stormed the Well over delay in the clearing of sugarcane dues.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohd Azam Khan said BJP was only wasting the time of the House, the duration of which was extended by two days for taking up matters of public interest.

"They (BJP MLAs) only want to grab the headlines in newspapers and TV channels and have no interest in discussions. They are creating a Parliament-like scene in the Assembly and wasting time," Khan said, his reference to the recent wash-out of the Monsoon session of Parliament over protests by the opposition demanding the sacking of senior BJP leaders caught in controversy.

In the UP Assembly, as Congress and RLD members sat on a dharna in the Well, the Speaker adjourned the House for 20 minutes and, thereafter, extended it till 12.20 PM, or the entire question hour.

Later, Congress member Pankaj Malik said that the party's MLAs wanted to raise the issue of payment of sugarcane dues to farmers as the government had not given any satisfactory reply on the important issue.

On August 17, the Question Hour was washed out as opposition MLAs stormed the Well demanding a debate on the law and order situation.

The next day, too, the entire Question Hour was a casualty as Congress members stormed the Well demanding a judicial probe into a police lathicharge on party workers in here in the state capital.

PTI