WALKOUT OVER REMARKS AGAINST N.D. TIWARI

The Congress on Saturday staged a walkout from the UP Assembly to protest against an allegedly personal and derogatory remark made by parliamentary affairs minister Azam Khan against former UP Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari.

Trouble began when Congress MLA Pramod Tiwari, while intervening in the budget for housing, said that a new colony for legislators should be set up to enable new MLAs to buy houses in Lucknow. He recalled that Mr Tiwari and the late Vir Bahadur Singh had set up Vidhayak Puram in Lucknow and were remembered till date for their initiative. If the SP government cleared a proposal for another Vidhayak Puram, CM Akhilesh Yadav would also be remembered like his predecessors.

Azam Khan stood up and said that the CM would certainly not prefer to be remembered like Mr Tiwari, in an oblique reference to the paternity row involving Mr Tiwari.