Maharashtra is not the only state to have seen a controversy over a legislator’s choice of language for taking oath in the Assembly. Uttar Pradesh saw a similar incident 13 years ago when two MLAs demanded that they take oath in Urdu.

Interestingly, both were from the Samajwadi Party, like Abu Asim Azmi who was at the receiving end of MNS MLAs in the Maharashtra House.

In Uttar Pradesh, members of both houses have to take oath in Hindi, as it is the official language. Rule 282 of the UP Legislative Assembly says, “Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the business of the Assembly shall be transacted in Hindi language and Devnagari script.”

Although UP has a sizeable population of Muslims who speak Urdu, and Urdu has been recognised as the second official language after Hindi by an act of the legislature, the “Rules of procedure and conduct of business of the UP Assembly 1958” provide that the language of the House shall be Hindi in Devnagari script.

A controversy broke out soon after the 1996 Assembly elections when SP legislators Alam Badi and Wasim Ahmed, who represented Nizamabad and Gopalpur in Azamgarh district, demanded that they be administered the oath of membership in Urdu. Both also staged a dharna in front of the Assembly for several days in 1996 and 1997.

They contended that Urdu was recognised in Uttar Pradesh as the second official language and it was their constitutional right to be administered the oath of the membership of the House in the language of their choice.

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