Rumble in UP House, Opp feels sorry

The House guards were kicked, the mike of the House secretary damaged and the glass on his table broken by angry Opposition legislators when...

The House guards were kicked, the mike of the House secretary damaged and the glass on his table broken by angry Opposition legislators when they were not allowed to speak on the Ayodhya issue in the UP Assembly today.

A hapless Speaker had called police — not inside the House — to prevent any eventuality because the agitated members had virtually overpowered the guards inside the House.

However, the irate legislators later agreed for a truce and apologised to the Chair for their behaviour. ‘‘This is the House and not the battleground. The Opposition has highjacked the Assembly since beginning of this session. The image of this House has already been damaged following the previous violence and this time all the members should keep restraint,’’ said BJP Legislature Party leader Lalji Tandon in an informal press meeting during extended hours of adjournments following the row.

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The drama started at around 1.30 pm when Congress Legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari raised a point of propriety on why the Mayawati government was not making its stand clear on Supreme Court directives which said that the state government should come out with its reply within eight weeks on whether or not it was issuing a fresh notification in the pending Babri demolition case.

While Tiwari and another Congress leader, Jagdambika Pal, had sought to put the government in the dock on the issue, the Samajwadi Party was stopped to express its viewpoint following intervention of Speaker Keshari Nath Tripathi who said he had already rejected the notice on this issue which meant that there was no point in discussing it in the House.

This angered the SP legislators who trooped to the well while demanding an explanation from the government on the SC directives. The House was adjourned but the SP legislators remained squatted on the floor and put up similar protest when it re-assembled again.

They also started marching to the Chair, forcing the guards to make a human chain. But even that didn’t deter the legislators who tore up the guards’ badges and also hit them causing minor injuries to some of the guards. ‘‘How can the government make its stand clear in the House when the apex court has asked it to come out with a reply within eight weeks,’’ said Tandon.

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Later, however, the agitated members agreed that the House should continue. ‘‘I am personally hurt with today’s incident,’’ Tripathi said.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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