Day after support, bonhomie evident in Vidhan Parishad

LUCKNOW : A day after the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced its support to the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-polls, the bonhomie between the two parties was quite evident in the Vidhan Parishad as well on Monday.

When BSP’s Sultanpur MLC Dinesh Chandra raised the issue of the breach of privilege by an official, the entire SP-led opposition zealously supported the member, demanding that the chair order the ‘guilty’ official to be present before the house and punish him. Vidhan Parishad chairman Ramesh Yadav, however, reserved his decision after the debate that lasted over an hour.

Batting for the BSP member, the SP’s Shatrudra Prakash said the matter related to the privilege and honour of the entire house and demanded that the Sultanpur Nagar Palika executive officer be summoned to the house to explain as to why he did not invite the BSP member to the Nagar Palika board’s meeting on January 6 as an ex officio member of the board. He quoted Constitutional provisions to make his point.

The opposition accused leader of the house and deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma of unnecessarily defending the official. Sharma said he would get the matter examined and, if found guilty, the official will be punished.

The opposition members, including teachers’ group’s Om Prakash Sharma and Congress’s Dinesh Singh, were not satisfied with the reply. They insisted that the house chairman order the official to be present before the house to explain.

The leader of the house requested chairman to keep his ruling reserved in the matter to which the chair agreed and announced he would take a call on the issue after taking the party leaders into confidence.

The SP and the BSP members were seen freely mingling and talking to one another without any reservation, a scene that was different from what it used to be.