UP Assembly session ends abruptly, SP MLAs protest wearing masks

Samajwadi Party MLAs wore masks to register their protest as the budget session of the Uttar Pradesh state assembly was adjourned sine die. It was actually scheduled to end on March 7.

Lucknow: The budget session of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday, a week before it was scheduled to end on March 7.

Samajwadi Party(SP) MLAs wore masks to register their protest against the abrupt end to the session.

"We will not utter a word and the government can run the Assembly as they want to. They do not want the opposition to raise issues of public interest, so we are wearing masks," leader of Opposition, Ram Govind Chaudhary told media.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called upon the SP legislators to take off their masks and speak freely in the house.

At this, Chaudhury gestured to the Chief Minister to speak but he did not.

Meanwhile, Adityanath tabled a proposal to raise the MLAs development fund to Rs 3 crore per year from the existing Rs 2 crore. He said that a committee would be set up soon for this.

The Chief Minister asked all legislators to submit a list of the development work they had done in their respective constituencies by March 15 and the state government would publish the same in the form of a booklet.

(IANS Report)