Monsoon Session of Assembly Begins: Uproar after Adityanath says purification drive on in Sambhal, targets LoP Pandey

As soon as the House convened at 11 am, LoP Pandey complained that he was manhandled during his visit to Gorakhpur to meet people affected by the upcoming “heritage corridor” project.

Speaking in the Assembly, Pandey said that not just Gorakhpur, he has been stopped in a similar manner at several other places, including Sambhal, where he had gone to meet the victims of November 24 violence that broke out during the survey of Shahi Jama Masjid.

Demanding an inquiry into the protests, Pandey pointed out that this was happening in a democracy and in the CM’s own area.

Adityanath hails from Gorakhpur.

Replying to the LoP’s charge, Chief Minister Adityanath hit out at the main Opposition party, saying “the Samajwadi Party (SP) and democracy are like two different shores of a river” that can never meet.

Alleging that the Leader of Opposition was “unnecessarily being made a pawn by some” for political benefit, Adityanath said: “Since when do you (SP) believe in democracy. It does not suit you.”

Accusing the SP leaders of only creating “nuisance” and “hurdles” in the development of the state by their “negativity”, the CM said: “Sambhal mein jo nagna tandav Samajwadi sarkar ke samay kiya tha.. aaj uska shudhikaran ka abhiyan chal raha hai (Due to the mess created by the SP rule in Sambhal, we are undertaking a purification drive in Sambhal).”

Alleging that the previous SP government did not bother about children dying with encephalitis in Gorakhpur or in the neighbouring areas, Adityanath accused the Leader of Opposition of going to Gorakhpur “just to do politics”.

“It was not the BJP leaders who protested against you, but the traders, who opposed you. They are angry with SP because they had to pay gonda tax during your regime,” he said, adding that three days before Pandey’s visit, he had gone to Gorakhpur to review the development of Heritage Corridor. “There was no protest. The project is being undertaken to free the area of encroachment as there are many landmarks, including Gita Press, Ghanta Ghar etc,” Adityanath said.

Calling the protest against the LoP “mild”, Adityanath said, “Agar koi aur hota to bahut qayede se unko sahi dhang se jawab dete (Had it been someone else, a befitting reply would have been given)”.

Following this, the SP legislators accused the BJP government of being “anti-Brahmin” by “threatening” Pandey, and started raising slogans such as “gundagardi ki yeh sarkakr nahi chalegi” and “Pandey ji ka yeh apman nahi shega Hindustan”.

The House was then adjourned till 2.20 pm.