The first session of the 17th state Assembly, set to begin on Monday,
is expected to be a stormy one while a united Opposition gears up to
target the Yogi Adityanath government over law and order in view of
recent incidents in Saharanpur, Bulandshahr, Agra etc. Meanwhile, the
state government, which is preparing to table the state Goods and
Services Tax (GST) Bill for ratification, appealed to political leaders
at the all-party meeting Sunday to allow space for "rachnatmak"
(constructive) discussion and to not interfere with Governor Ram Naik’s
joint address to both Houses. Opposition leaders later said it was their
responsibility to raise the "issues of the public".
"We do not wish to disturb proceedings of the Assembly, but there
have been some recent incidents of crime which need attention. It is our
moral responsibility as leaders of Opposition to raise these issues of
law and order in the Assembly," said Ram Govind Chaudhary, Samajwadi Party
leader in the Assembly. He added that SP would also raise the "hollow
promises of development which have not been met by both the central and
the state governments". After the all-party meeting, Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna told reporters, "It is the responsibility
of both government and the Opposition to ensure smooth functioning of
both Houses".
Adityanath, in his official statement requested advocated 90-day
sittings of the Assembly like it is done in Parliament.Speaker Hriday
Narayan Dixit requested all parties to maintain decorum and listen to
the complete address of the governor, after which the GST Bill would be
placed.
Ajay Kumar Lallu, who has been made Congress Legislature Party
leader, said, "The Opposition will be united while raising the issue of
law and order in the state under the new government. Be it incidents in
Saharanpur, or the recent alleged rape and murder in Allahabad, or the
alleged murder of a businessman in Gorakhpur, these will be raised in
Assembly strongly."
"Apart from this, Congress will also raise the issue of loan waiver.
BJP had promised loan waivers for all farmers but what they have done is
just a partial waive-off. Congress will raise the issue and also that
of liquor prohibition," added Lallu. Congress has just 7 MLAs in the
current Assembly, while BJP and its allies have 325.
Meanwhile, among other firsts in this session would also be the
adoption of new protocol to receive the governor at the Assembly for his
address. Last year, the President’s office had issued this protocol.
However, following opposition from many political parties barring BJP,
the protocol was not adopted under the previous government. In an
another first, proceedings will be telecast live for the first time.
15 May 2017, 05:54 AM