The opening day of the Uttar Pradesh legislature’s monsoon session witnessed stormy scenes with the principal opposition party, the Samajwadi Party (SP), calling for a discussion on the violence in Manipur. Leader of the Opposition Akhilesh Yadav even demanded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to make a statement in the House on the situation in Manipur.
“The mistreatment of women in Manipur is shameful, to say the least. The Manipur incident has brought a bad name to India across the world. It has been discussed from Europe to America,” said Mr. Yadav, asking the Chief Minister to make a statement. “Which State you haven’t gone to seek votes. This is a chance for you to become the voice of the country, we are with you,” added the SP president. SP MLAs entered the well of the House demanding immediate discussion on Manipur. Speaker Satish Mahana asked the members to cooperate in the smooth running of the House and added it (Manipur) was not an issue for the Assembly to discuss. “What has happened is very unfortunate, but matter of other States can’t be taken up here,” said the Speaker.
Submit memorandum
In the Legislative Council, the SP members submitted a memorandum to the Chairman demanding that a resolution be passed condemning the nudity incident in Manipur, consoling the families of the victims and sending a delegation of Uttar Pradesh legislators to Manipur to know the facts.
Earlier, Mr. Adityanath, while addressing the media in the Vidhan Bhavan before entering the Assembly, said both the Houses were ideal platforms for elected representatives to put forward the problems of the public and added that the State government was ready to answer every question in the House.
Condole Atiq Ahmed’s death
Both the Houses condoled the deaths of former legislators, including criminal-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, who were murdered in April while being taken out for medical check-up in Prayagraj. In the Vidhan Sabha, the Speaker read out the condolence message at the start of the session. The late gangster represented the Allahabad West Assembly segment in the Assembly five times, while his brother won the seat once in a bypoll in 2005.
