The first session of the 17th state Assembly, set to begin on Monday, is expected to be a stormy one while a united Opposition gears up to target the Yogi Adityanath government over law and order in view of recent incidents in Saharanpur, Bulandshahr, Agra etc. Meanwhile, the state government, which is preparing to table the state Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill for ratification, appealed to political leaders at the all-party meeting Sunday to allow space for “rachnatmak” (constructive) discussion and to not interfere with Governor Ram Naik’s joint address to both Houses. Opposition leaders later said it was their responsibility to raise the “issues of the public”. “We do not wish to disturb proceedings of the Assembly, but there have been some recent incidents of crime which need attention. It is our moral responsibility as leaders of Opposition to raise these issues of law and order in the Assembly,” said Ram Govind Chaudhary, Samajwadi Party leader in the Assembly. He added that SP would also raise the “hollow promises of development which have not been met by both the central and the state governments”. After the all-party meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna told reporters, “It is the responsibility of both government and the Opposition to ensure smooth functioning of both Houses”. Adityanath, in his official statement requested advocated 90-day sittings of the Assembly like it is done in Parliament.Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit requested all parties to maintain decorum and listen to the complete address of the governor, after which the GST Bill would be placed. Ajay Kumar Lallu, who has been made Congress Legislature Party leader, said, “The Opposition will be united while raising the issue of law and order in the state under the new government. Be it incidents in Saharanpur, or the recent alleged rape and murder in Allahabad, or the alleged murder of a businessman in Gorakhpur, these will be raised in Assembly strongly.” “Apart from this, Congress will also raise the issue of loan waiver. BJP had promised loan waivers for all farmers but what they have done is just a partial waive-off. Congress will raise the issue and also that of liquor prohibition,” added Lallu. Congress has just 7 MLAs in the current Assembly, while BJP and its allies have 325. Meanwhile, among other firsts in this session would also be the adoption of new protocol to receive the governor at the Assembly for his address. Last year, the President’s office had issued this protocol. However, following opposition from many political parties barring BJP, the protocol was not adopted under the previous government. In an another first, proceedings will be telecast live for the first time.
