Bedlam in UP assembly over law and order

BJP and BSP legislators on Monday created uproar in the Uttar Pradesh assembly over what they said was the deteriorating law and order situation in the country's most populous state.

As the house met after Holi break, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members accused the government of failing to control crime.

The opposition claimed that 33 people had been killed across the state since Holi and police had failed to control criminals.

The BJP legislators also raised the issue of farmer suicides, especially after the rainfall and hailstorm that damaged crops in the state.

The opposition leader, Swamy Prasad Maurya of the BSP, pointed out that banks were being robbed in Lucknow and police appeared to be helpless.

Cabinet minister Ambika Chowdhary slammed the BSP and the BJP for the bedlam and taunted the BJP by saying that everyone knew how the interests of farmers were hurt by the central government's land acquisition bill.