Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party stage walkout from Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council over law and order issue

Opposition Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party on Friday staged a walkout from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council over the law and order situation in the state.

Raising the matter through adjournment motion notices during the Zero Hour, SP, BSP and Congress members cited various incidents like the Bikru ambush case in which eight policemen were killed, and the kidnapping and killing of a man in Kanpur, among others.

The opposition parties termed the incidents a "blot" on the state.

Pressing for the admissibility of the notice, Congress' Dipak Singh said it is the first time that so many policemen have been killed in the state and an MLA was beaten up inside a police station, referring to allegations by BJP MLA from Iglas Rajkumar Sahyogi that he was manhandled at the Gonda police station.

SP's Ram Sunder Das also raised the recent hijacking of a bus in Agra.

A privately-operated bus with 34 passengers on board was hijacked by recovery agents of a finance company in Agra on Wednesday. The bus was traced to a dhaba in Etawah later in the day, officials said.

The alleged mastermind of the hijacking, Pradeep Gupta, was arrested following an encounter with police in Firozabad district on Thursday, they said.

BSP member Suresh Kashyap asked how the law and order situation in the state can be termed good when a Dalit village head was killed in Azamgarh.

Kashyap's party colleague Dinesh Chandra said it is wrong to commit atrocities on members of the Brahmin community on the pretext of the Bikru case.

Gangster Vikas Dubey, whose henchmen ambushed the policemen in Bikru village in Kanpur, belonged to the Brahmin community. Dubey was killed in an encounter with the state police last month.

Countering the Opposition, BJP's Leader of the House Dinesh Sharma said though some unfortunate incidents have taken place, action has been taken and the culprits nabbed.

He said the situation in Uttar Pradesh is not what it used to be a few years ago when criminals roamed freely after committing crimes.

Sharma also contested the charges of BSP members, saying "if eliminating criminals is persecution, it means you provide shelter to criminals in the name of caste".

He added that BSP members were raising baseless allegations to defame the government.

Expressing dissatisfaction over Sharma's reply, members of SP and BSP staged a walkout from the House.

Earlier, when the House assembled at 11 AM, the members of the two parties demanded an immediate discussion on the law and order situation in the state, coronavirus pandemic and floods.

With the Chair not relenting, SP members, carrying placards, trooped into the Well of the House, while BSP members stood at their seats in protest leading to the adjournment of the House for 20 minutes.

The adjournment was later extended till 12:20 PM and the Question Hour could not be held.