Speaker warns BJP MLAs against interrupting opposition leaders

LUCKNOW: UP assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit on Thursday urged the MLAs not to interrupt during the debate in the House.

The Speaker was forced to warn the members when BJP MLAs interrupted the opposition leaders during the debate and protested against their statements.

While senior SP leader Azam Khan was speaking during the debate on Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Bill (UPCOCB), the BJP MLAs rose from their seats and objected to his statement.

“Dictators in Pakistan and other countries have also brought stringent laws but failed to control people’s movement. During Emergency, the Congress party misused the law to commit atrocities on the opposition,” he said.

Khan added the people would soon come to know if the new law was beneficial or harmful for the society. Khan sat down when the BJP MLAs continued their protest.

Issuing strict warning to BJP legislators, the Speaker said they should not speak or interrupt the opposition leaders during the debate. Senior BSP leader Sukhdev Rajbhar said the state government had not taken the view of legal experts while drafting UPCOCB. “The state government needs to take strict measures to improve law and order rather than bringing in a new law,” he said amid protest by BJP MLAs.

Leader of the opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary said the legislation had been brought to create fear among the Muslims.

Leader of the BSP legislature party Lalji Verma said the state government was trying to suppress the Dalits. Parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna said the opposition was trying to create confusion. There was no censorship on press. Similar laws introduced in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra were more stringent, he said.