SP leaders hold protest outside Assembly in Lucknow

Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders on Tuesday held a protest outside Assembly here over several issues including Citizenship (Amendment) Act, law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and atrocities against women.

Targeting Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government over unemployment, inflation, and problems faced by various farmers in the state, the SP leaders staged a sit-in protest before the proceedings of the House began on Tuesday morning.

Talking to ANI, a leader from the Samajwadi Party said: "The law and order situation all across the state is not in good shape. Women aren't safe here. In Uttar Pradesh, problems of sugarcane, paddy, and potato farmers are not addressed. The government is completely ignorant of all these issues."

He added: "The way the police had misused its power to silence the voices of student protestors in Delhi is not justifiable. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 is unconstitutional and the democracy is in great danger."

The Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Since the Bill has received presidential assent, there have been protests against it in several parts of the country.