UP assembly, Council sessions begin, adjourned amid din

Lucknow, Dec 14 (IANS) The winter session of both the 17th Vidhan Sabha and the Legislative Council in Uttar Pradesh began here on Thursday, which were later adjourned for the day after disruptions by opposition benches.

After the opposition disturbed the assembly proceedings, Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit adjourned the lower house for the day.

Earlier, amid protests by Samajwadi Party (SP) members, the Yogi Adityanath government tabled two proposed legislations in the assembly, including one on 'Prayagraj Mela' and one to amend the Cooperative Societies Act.

The SP lawmakers raised the demand for loan waivers for farmers in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's presence.

Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhary said the state's farmers had been cheated and the rollout of the loan waiver scheme by the Bharatiya Janata Party government was questionable.

Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Singh gave notice under Rule 311 for discussion on the power tariff hike but his demand was not entertained by the Chair.

Bahujan Samaj Party legislators' leader Lalji Verma said the government had failed to fulfil poll promises made by the BJP in its 'Sankalp Patra' during the assembly elections.

He also demanded a discussion on many issues under Rule 311, a rollback of the power tariff hike and accused the government of failing to maintain law and order in Uttar Pradesh.

Government Spokesman and Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh however trashed the opposition allegations about poor law and order and said the government planned to enact the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act to tackle criminals. He also accused the opposition of doing politics on everything and having a "negative mindset".

In the Legislative Council, the opposition created a din as well, making its Chairman adjourn the upper house of the legislature for the day.

At the start of the council session, Samajwadi Party (SP) members raised anti-government slogans and protested against the power tariff hike which they dubbed as "steep".

Demanding a rollback, the SP members said they will not let the house function till their demand was met.

Calling the hike of 12 per cent a blow to farmers, the poor and the middle class, SP MLCs accused Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of being "anti-poor and cheating people".

As SP members refused to pay heed to calm down, Legislative Council Chairman Ramesh Yadav first adjourned the house till noon and later till Friday.

Power Minister Shrikant Sharma denied opposition charges and said the previous SP government had left the state's power sector in chaos.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government was only trying to set things right and ensure adequate power to both villages and cities, the Minister said.

The winter session of the 17th Vidhan Sabha will continue till December 22.