UP: SP fails to stall passing of bills, cries foul

LUCKNOW: Despite enjoying a majority in the Upper House, Samajwadi Party and other Opposition parties were unable to prevent the passing of some bills in Vidhan Parishad on Saturday.
In fact, the proceedings started late by 3.5 hours as SP members sat on a protest in the chairperson’s office over the passing of a bill on Friday without the party’s amendment being considered.
Incidentally, the last bill to be passed on Saturday also sailed through in similar fashion with SP trying to move an amendment in vain.
“On Friday, a bill on reservation for EWS was passed. SP has no objection to the bill, but wanted to know how the government had identified EWS for it. Before the proceedings commenced on Saturday, the chairperson accepted that there had been an error on Friday because our amendment was not taken up, and that something like this would not be repeated. He asked us to let the proceedings commence on the condition that he would allow voting if we wanted. However, the promise was entirely forgotten once we went inside,” said MLC Sunil Sajan. As MLC Shashank Yadav asked chairperson Ramesh Yadav to explain why the amendment proposal had been termed ‘inadmissible’ without giving any reason, his colleague Udayveer Singh said it was the basic right of members to propose amendments and running the house in this way is dangerous for democracy.
However, a similar story unfolded later when SP tried to move an amendment proposal for the ‘Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damage to Public and Private Property Bill, 2020’, but a voice vote was taken and the bill passed amid massive protests by SP members. “This bill is against the high court order and is legally incorrect. However, our objections have not even been registered,” said Yadav.
BJP attacked the Opposition for questioning the chairperson’s decision, which it said was final and above politics.
Responding to SP charges, labour minister Swami Prasad Maurya said BJP had in fact fulfilled a demand made by both SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati by giving 10% reservation to people of economically weaker sections, he said once the chairperson gives an order, it should not be challenged.