On the last day of the first part of the Budget Session, the Lok Sabha saw a walkout by Opposition members just before Question Hour commenced to protest against remarks made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wasn’t elected back in U.P., the State would become “Kashmir, Kerala or Bengal.”
Opposition MPs from the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the National Conference (NC), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and the Communist Party of India (CPI) all walked out, deeming the remarks to have been made in a pejorative sense.
Mr. Adityanath had, on the eve of the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, made a video statement saying that the BJP should be elected back otherwise the State could be like the other three States mentioned, an oblique reference to the minority populations in those States, and after Speaker Om Birla said that Question Hour should be allowed to continue.
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Later, TMC MP Saugata Roy also raised the issue during Zero Hour without naming Mr. Adityanath, condemning the remarks, but was interrupted by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey over procedural issues. The RSP’s N. K. Premachandran, who was in the Chair at the time, asked Mr. Roy to continue as he hadn’t named anyone specifically.
On Thursday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had retorted to Mr. Adityanath’s statement on Twitter, stating: “If UP turns into Kerala as @myogiadityanath fears, it will enjoy the best education, health services, social welfare, living standards and have a harmonious society in which people wont be murdered in the name of religion and caste. That’s what people of UP would want.”
While the walkout took place, Speaker Om Birla also spoke about the constructive cooperation of all MPs and the efficient conduct of business that had taken place in this, the first part of the Budget session. He said that the Lok Sabha had shown productivity levels of 121%, and that while 12 hours each had been accorded to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President for his address, and the Union Budget, the former saw discussion running up to 15 hours and 13 minutes, and the latter for 15 hours and 33 minutes.
The second part of the Budget Session will commence on March 14 and end on April 8.
