Kanpur Dehat mother-daughter self-immolation set to dominate coming UP Budget session

The coming Budget session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly is all set to witness a hot debate on the Kanpur Dehat incident in which a 45-year-old woman and her daughter immolated themselves during an anti-encroachment drive.

The Opposition parties are united in cornering the BJP-led government on this issue as well on issues of law and order and price rise.

The BJP has on the other hand categorically stated the Opposition has no issues to corner it on the floor of the House.

The Budget session of the UP Legislature will begin on February 20, and the state's budget is likely to be presented on February 22.

The Samajwadi Party had on February 15 said it would raise the matter of the death of a woman and her daughter in the house to get their family justice.

Pramila Dixit and her 20-year-old daughter Neha set themselves on fire on February 13 in their hut in the presence of police, district administration, and revenue officials who had come to the village to demolish encroachments on the "gram samaj" land in Kanpur Dehat district.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of the two women.

A day before, police had booked 39 people, including a sub-divisional magistrate, four revenue officials and over a dozen of police personnel, on murder and other charges in the incident.

"We will corner the state government on a host of issues ranging from the unfortunate death of a mother-daughter duo to price inflation in the state. We will also make efforts to make sure that the government does not deviate from the issues raised by us," UP Legislative Council member Ashutosh Sinha (SP) told PTI.

Congress MLA from Pharenda assembly constituency in Maharajganj district Virendra Chaudhary said his party too will seek answers from the government on the death of two women and also on investments claimed by the government.

"The biggest issue, which will be discussed is the incident of Kanpur Dehat in which a woman and her daughter lost their lives. Apart from this, the issues of price rise and unemployment will also be raised in the House.

"The state government, which has recently hosted the Global Investors Summit-2023 in Lucknow will also be asked to inform what percentage of investment promised in previous meetings has been implemented on the ground," Chaudhary told PTI.

The lone BSP MLA in the UP Legislative Assembly Uma Shankar Singh said that the issue of mother-daughter losing their lives in Kanpur Dehat will be the party's top priority in the house. It will also seek answers from the government about the stagnation in the price of sugarcane.

Reacting to the stance of the Opposition parties, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said: "The Opposition has no issues. As far as the Kanpur Dehat incident is concerned, action has been initiated. It has been made clear that the guilty persons will not be spared. And there will be a high-level probe against those officials, who have acted against the directions of the state government."

"The Opposition has no issues. They are a bunch of anarchists, goons, and criminals."

To a question, of whether there can be a debate on Ramcharitmanas in the Assembly, Maurya said, "Politicians speak on laws and development. And the religious teachers speak on religious texts."

Brajesh Pathak, the other Deputy Chief Minister, told PTI, "We are bringing a Budget, which will be for the all-round development of Uttar Pradesh. It will be for the infrastructure development of UP, for the women, students, youths and farmers of the state. The budget will bring a transformation in the lives of the people of the state."

On the Kanpur Dehat violence, Pathak said, "An SIT probe is already underway in the Kanpur Dehat case. The guilty will be punished. The government is standing with the aggrieved family."

At present in the 403 UP Legislative Assembly, BJP has 255 MLAs, followed by the Samajwadi Party, which has 109 MLAs.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 11 MLAs. Rashtriya Lok Dal has nine MLAs. NISHAD party and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party have six MLAs each.

The Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik have two MLAs each. The Bahujan Samaj Party has one MLA. Two seats are currently vacant.