By IANS,
Lucknow: Demanding a discussion on the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, the entire opposition was up in arms in the Uttar Pradesh assembly Monday.
The continued uproar through the day compelled Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar to eventually adjourn the house around 3 p.m.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), however, made full use of the din to get half a dozen of its bills passed with voice vote.
It was one of those rare occasion when the Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) joined hands to create commotion in the house.
They trained their guns on the government by highlighting the two recent incidents of major crimes – the Allahabad blast which left two dead and Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi badly wounded, and the more recent murder of senior BJP leader Hukum Singh’s wife in Muzaffarnagar.
They pointed out that the two incidents had led to a sense of insecurity among people.
Amid loud anti-government slogan shouting, a large number of the members even climbed atop their desks, while others repeatedly stormed into the well of the house to press their demand for a discussion on rising crime.
However, when the issue was raked up by Samajwadi Party deputy leader Ambika Chaudhary, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma sought to shout him down by reminding him of the “organized goondaism” during the erstwhile Samajwadi Party rule.
“What business do you have in talking about law and order; after all you should not forget how crime was institutionalized under your government which blatantly patronized criminals,” Verma told Chaudhary.
Meanwhile, members of other opposition parties got up to echo their demand for a discussion and criticised the Mayawati government. While the BJP contingent was led by Om Prakash Singh, Pramod Tiwari spearheaded the Congress bandwagon while Kaukab Hameed marched ahead of the RLD group.