In UP assembly, paper balls thrown during governor's address

Throughout the governor’s 35-minute address, Samajwadi Party legislator Rajesh Yadav blew a whistle to ensure that the address is not heard.

The maiden session of the newly elected Uttar Pradesh assembly began on a tempestuous note on Monday with opposition members throwing paper balls at Governor Ram Naik during his address and marshals trying to dodge them with files.

This is the first assembly session after the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Yogi Adityanath came to power last month after a landslide victory in assembly elections.

The customary address of the governor to the joint sitting of the two Houses of the state legislature was drowned in the uproar created by the Opposition.

Throughout the governor’s 35-minute address, Samajwadi Party legislator Rajesh Yadav blew a whistle to ensure that the address is not heard. All the while, others threw paper balls, some of which hit the governor despite marshals trying their best to shield him.

Slogan-shouting opposition members trooped into the Well with banners and placards, donning caps and raising anti-government slogans.

When the governor started reading out his address, the entire opposition comprising members of the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party started slogan shouting against the government over the issue of law and order.

A BSP placard read ‘police pit rahi thane me, Yogi tere zamane me (cops are getting beaten up inside police stations in your regime, Yogi), ‘goraksha ke naam par gundai band karo’ (stop hooliganism in the name of protecting cow)’.

SP legislators also sought to corner the government on law and order issue.

The Congress too joined the opposition with slogans like -- ‘Kanoon vyastha dhwasth hai, sarkar bucharkhane, teen talaq me vyast hai (law and order is in a shambles, and the government is busy in issues like slaughterhouses and triple talaq)’.

On their part, the Bharatiya Janata Party members thumped their desks loudly whenever the governor lauded the government, adding to the prevailing chaos in the House.

The governor was flanked by Dixit and Chairman of the Legislative Council Ramesh Yadav.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was present when the governor read the 84-page address despite the bedlam.

The address is a note prepared by the government highlighting its achievements.

Indirectly blaming the previous governments for the prevailing state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh, the governor lauded the Yogi Adityanath government for its resolve to transform UP into a frontline state.

Naik said Uttar Pradesh was once a leading state, but in the past many years it has lagged behind other states.

For the first time, the proceedings were telecast live by Doordarshan.

After the BJP came to power in the state, a decision was taken to telecast live the proceedings of the House so that people could benefit.

"Sara Uttar Pradesh dekh raha hai aap ko (the entire Uttar Pradesh is watching you),” a visibly annoyed governor told the shouting members, who kept throwing papers at the podium.

"Sadan ki garima banaye rakhiye (maintain dignity of the House)” the governor appealed to the agitated members, but it went unheeded.

Condemning the Opposition for creating uproar in the House, cabinet minister Sidharth Nath Singh later told reporters, “People of the state have witnessed hooliganism in the SP regime. After seeing their behaviour in the House, the people of the state must be happy that they have dumped the SP.”

"The way in which SP members jumped atop tables and threw paper balls is condemnable. They made mockery of democracy,” he said.

The opposition SP and BSP have decided to take on the Adityanath government over the issue of law and order.

Talking to reporters, SP Legislature Party leader Ram Govind Chowdhury said law and order has collapsed in the BJP regime.

"Rape and murders have increased. Even incidents of rape with children have gone up...This government is a failure,” Chowdhury charged.

Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Pratap Lallu also tried to put the state government on the dock over the issue of law and order.

"Crime in the state has increased and state government has failed to take any concrete action against law breakers,” he charged.

The strained relations within the Yadav clan once again came to the fore, when Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav avoided direct contact with his uncle Shivpal Yadav in the House.

Shivpal, an MLA, reached the House and occupied the last bench with SP members, while Akhilesh, an MLC, sat in the front seat during the governor’s address to the jointing sitting of the UP legislature on the first day of the session.

After prodding by some SP members, Shivpal moved ahead and took a seat behind Akhilesh, but even after seeing him he avoided greeting him and did not exchange pleasantries.