AZAM ATTACKS GUV OVER PENDING BILL

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh minister for parliamentary affairs Mohammad Azam Khan on Tuesday attacked governor Ram Naik for withholding assent to Uttar Pradesh Nagar Nigam (Amendment) Bill 2015 that provided for removal of mayors for financial irregularities and misconduct in office.

The governor’s move indicated that he was protecting interests of mayors of a political party (BJP), said Khan adding, the bill had remained pending with the Raj Bhawan for nearly one and a half year.

“How do we run our departments when those occupying high offices act in such a manner. This is unfortunate,” said Khan in the state assembly adding the BJP members thought the bill had been brought to target mayors belonging to the BJP. “The house should consider for how long such bills could be stopped,” he said.

BJP legislature party leader Suresh Khanna said there was no tradition of debating any action of the governor in the House. “We take strong exception to this and observations made against the governor should be expunged from proceedings of house,” said Khanna.

At this, Khan said he referred to the BJP as its leader during an interaction with him had expressed apprehensions that the bill had been brought to victimise BJP mayors.Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey said the constitution provided the governor right to hold any bill. When Khanna insisted that observations made against the Governor be expunged from proceedings, the Speaker said he would look into the issue and remove if anything was found unconstitutional.