By IANS
Lucknow : Utter pandemonium marked the start of the Uttar Pradesh assembly’s budget session Friday as opposition members not only raised anti-government slogans, but also burst gas balloons!
Led by the Samajwadi Party, opposition members demanded dismissal of the eight-month-old Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government.
Governor T.V. Rajeshwar, who had barely started his address marking the opening of the assembly’s budget session, was interrupted by slogans of “Governor – go back”.
The situation worsened when some Samajwadi Party legislators let out gas-filled balloons they had sneaked in under their shawls. As these went up to the high dome of the assembly hall, they burst one by one, adding to the chaos.
Samajwadi Party members walked right up to the speaker’s podium, raising slogans and condemning Chief Minister Mayawati as “anti-farmer”, “anti-poor” and “undemocratic”. Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress too raised their voices and the din continued for at least 20 minutes.
Mayawati took umbrage at the chaos that prevailed, and promptly called a meeting of select top officials who were given a dressing down for what she termed as a “serious security lapse.”
The meeting was attended by BSP state chief Swami Prasad Maurya, cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh, principal home secretary J.N. Chamber and principal secretary (vidhan sabha) Rajendra Prasad Pandey.
Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar ordered an inquiry into the security lapse and added that “if need be, MLAs (legislators) will also be frisked henceforth”.
“The manner in which balloons were brought in and burst inside the assembly and leaflets and posters were thrown to disrupt the proceedings of the house was unprecedented; so we have to take stern measures to prevent any such recurrence,” he said.
Justifying the move, Rajbhar told the house: “Even in the parliament, the practice of frisking MPs was started after the terrorist attack (December 2001).”
He also directed the Lucknow senior superintendent of police to personally monitor the security at the assembly entrance.