Mayawati close to dividing UP,passes proposal in Assembly

As soon as the proposal was passed by voice vote amid noisy scenes,Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar adjourned the House sine die.

The Opposition,which wanted to bring no confidence motion against the state government,criticised the move to pass the resolution by voice vote and then adjourning the Assembly.

Alleging the BSP government had ignored Baba Saheb’s (Bhim Rao Ambedkar) Constitution and adjourned the House sine die,Leader of Opposition Shivpal Singh Yadav told reporters:”The government should have discussed the no-confidence motion (moved by the Samajwadi Party) and gone for voting.” He also accused the Speaker of acting as a BSP member.

The Samajwadi Party said the people of the state were against splitting it. Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said his party favoured the constitution of a state reorganisation commission so that resources division and other issues could be considered.

In the House of 403,BSP has 220 members (six of its members have been disqualified recently),SP 89,BJP 48,Cong 20,RLD 10,independent 9 and RSP one.

Earlier,the Winter Session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly started on a stormy noted with BJP members jumping into the well of the House while SP members started shouting slogans against the government and waved placards.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma said the BSP government had full majority in the House but Opposition members did not pay heed to him.

Amid the din,Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar adjourned the question hour till 12.20 pm.

When the House met again,in the presence of Mayawati,who was not present during question hour,the SP and BJP members jumped into the well demanding a discussion on the no-confidence motion.

Pramod Tiwari alleged the BSP government had acted against democracy and the SP and the BJP had helped the party in the job. “Both SP and BJP jumped into the well. No confidence motion can be brought from the well. They should have stood in their place for discussion on the motion,” Tiwari said.

Saying the proposal to divide the state was an “election stunt”,BJP Leader Om Prakash Singh said the Centre should not accept the proposal.

Advocating for a reorganisation commission,Singh said as UP’s proposal was passed without discussion and debate. It should not be accepted at any cost,he said.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Kokab Hamid said the state government was not serious about splitting the state and the way the proposal was passed showed the same.

SP and BJP members will meet Governor B L Joshi later in the day to register their protest against the government.

In a bid to outsmart rivals ahead of the Assembly elections,Mayawati had last week announced her plans to bring a resolution in the House for carving out four new states. The chief minister,who had earlier written a letter on this to the Prime Minister,had said the demand was in keeping with the aspirations and ambitions of these regions.

Mayawati’s move is seen as an attempt by her to cash in on the sentiments in favour of small states in the western and eastern regions and the Bundelkhand area.