UP Assembly Monsoon Session Opens Amid Protests & Slogan-Shouting (VIDEO)

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Assembly’s monsoon session opened on Monday amid slogan-shouting, protests and sharp exchanges between the treasury and the Opposition benches. Samajwadi Party (SP) legislators refused to ask questions during Question Hour to protest alleged misbehavior with Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey during his recent visit to Gorakhpur.

Pandey alleged that bulldozers were parked to block his route, that people standing on them raised slogans against him, and that at Jatashankar Crossing and Ghantaghar, there was an attempt to pull him out of his car. “There is a gang in Gorakhpur which enjoys protection. If we are guilty, tell us. The House cannot run on threats. Those sitting there were once sitting here,” Pandey said, urging the government to order an inquiry into the incident.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna countered the allegations, saying, “Everyone respects the Leader of Opposition. There was no insult. SP is doing politics over this issue.”

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath responded to Pandey’s charges with a pointed jibe. “Since when has the Opposition started believing in the word democracy? This word does not suit you,” he remarked, addressing the Leader of Opposition directly. “You are a senior leader, but a gun is being fired from your shoulder. In Gorakhpur, we are building a heritage corridor that you never created in your time. If the NDA government wants to develop the state, you people feel bad.”

As soon as the House assembled, Opposition members began shouting slogans. SP legislators took turns skipping their listed questions, with Speaker Satish Mahana repeatedly appealing for calm. When the turn came for SP MLA Swami Omvesh, Mahana quipped, “At least you should ask. You are a Swami, above everyone,” but Omvesh declined. SP ally Pallavi Patel was the only Opposition member in sequence to pose her questions to the government.

Outside the House, protests were equally theatrical. SP MLA from Sardhana, Atul Pradhan, arrived carrying a kanwar inscribed on one side with “Humein chahiye pathshala” (We want schools) and on the other with “Humein nahin chahiye madhushala” (We don’t want taverns). Pradhan questioned the state’s school merger policy, asking, “Who made the rule to close government schools? In 2019, closures began. Who studies in these schools? The children of the poor, labourers, and small traders.” SP legislators also carried placards and a model of the “PDA Pathshala” to drive home their point.

SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav accused the government of trying to hide “nine years of failures” by limiting the monsoon session to just four days.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told reporters outside the House that the government was ready to debate any issue.

The four-day monsoon session will include a special 24-hour sitting from 11 am on August 13 to 11 am on August 14, during which the government will present its “Vision Document 2047” for a developed Uttar Pradesh. Ministers will outline long-term departmental plans, and inputs from both sides will be incorporated before the final document is sent to the NITI Aayog. The Opposition has demanded the session be extended beyond August 16 to allow more debate.