As the new rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly were taken up for discussion Wednesday, Opposition leaders suggested tweaking certain rules, while the state government assured them of considering their suggestions. Samajwadi Party MLA Lalji Verma suggested changes in Rule Number 42, which allows only two supplementary questions along with the main question and proposed to restore the old rule under which end number of supplementary questions could be asked. Verma also suggested reducing the fine of Rs 50,000 on those whose breach of privilege complaint is found false. He pointed out that the fine earlier was Rs 500 and it should now be increased to Rs 5,000 instead of the proposed Rs 50,000. Congress legislature Aradhna Mishra suggested setting aside days for women legislatures to raise issues and increasing the time of the question hour from the existing one hour and twenty minutes. BSP legislature Uma Shankar Singh also demanded increasing the time of the question hour. SP legislature Mata Prasad Pandey suggested that discussions on committee reports being tabled in the Assembly be made compulsory as these reports are tabled without any discussion. Replying to their suggestions, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna assured the members of looking into some of the suggestions, but added that “more or less no major changes have been suggested”. Replying to Mata Prasad's suggestion, Khanna said the government wants discussions but the Opposition will have to cooperate first. Meanwhile, SP chief and the leader of the Opposition Akhilesh Yadav, who did not speak in the Assembly, tweeted: “It seems that now some more rules will come for the ban in the UP Assembly, which would be a refusal to come after eating tomatoes - no talk allowed on the 'sand' (bull), it would be forbidden to raise issues of public interest and harmony. No question to be allowed in smart city, use of the word unemployment and inflation would be forbidden; demand for caste census and even talk on PDA in sign language would also be forbidden.”
