Ruckus in UP assembly, MLAs throw paper balls on Governor

Chaos prevailed in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday amidst slogan shouting by Opposition MLAs who threw paper balls at Governor Ram Naik as he addressed the joint sitting of both the Houses on the first day of the Budget Session.

While the Governor's speech focused on the government's policies, Opposition members disrupted it, raising the issue of farmers' loan waiver.

Opposition members waved placards at the Governor, unrelentingly shouted slogans and soon they reached the Well of the house.

The Governor, however, continued reading his speech amidst the din.

State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath came down heavily on the MLAs of opposition parties including Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress, and termed the SP members as "goons".

"The conduct of the legislators of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress is undemocratic and unconstitutional. Such behaviour and conduct weakens the democracy and undermines its institutions," said the Chief Minister.

"Members of Samajwadi Party have done 'gunda-gardi' inside the house. They have thrown paper balls at the Governor while he was addressing the House. The SP is a party of goons and its members have still not given up their earlier behaviour," said Adityanath.

The Budget Session kick-started with the joint sitting of both the houses -- the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council -- here at 11 am with the Governor addressing the joint sitting.

Chief Minister Adityanath-led BJP government will present the budget for the year 2019-20 on February 7. Subsequently, a discussion on the Budget will take place for four days, beginning February 12.

The house will discuss the Governor's address on February 6-8 and on February 11.

In the backdrop of forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, the SP-BSP allied together to pose a formidable threat to the ruling BJP in the state and Centre.