Marathon session of legislature, anti-plastic drives held in UP on Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary

A special 36-hour marathon session of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature, marches by parties, special drives for cleanliness and against plastic use and release of 150 prisoners marked the celebrations in the state on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath joined a plastic waste collection drive in the busy Hazratganj area here and administered oath to participants against use of banned plastic at another programme.

He and Governor Anandiben Patel garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi while local students sang 'bhajans' at the GPO park.

They later went to the Gandhi Ashram where the chief minister tried his hand at the spinning wheel (charkha).

"Mahatma Gandhi's simple lifestyle and his devotion to duty will continue to inspire generations. His ideals and philosophy motivate us," said Adityanath who also inaugurated a Khadi festival.

The state government released 150 prisoners on the occasion.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led her party's silent march from Shaheed Smarak to GPO park and paid floral tributes to the Father of the Nation.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took part in a march by the BJP in the state capital along with other ministers.

The 36-hour non-stop sitting of both the Houses of state legislature kicked off this morning to deliberate on 16 sustainable development goals to mark Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.

However, the opposition including Samajwadi Party, BSP, Congress and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party boycotted the proceedings claiming that the state government was trying to hide its failures.

They questioned the sincerity of the government saying it was just out to set a record.

Adityanath slammed the opposition, saying it was not only an "insult" to the Father of the Nation but also a "contempt" of the House.

"It's unfortunate that opposition leaders, who agreed for the session, are not present. Probably they did not remember that they had given consent for the session," he said.

In his nearly two-hour-long address, Adityanath recalled contributions of Gandhi and also of Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birthdays and highlighted his government's work to achieve sustainable development goals.

The simultaneous sessions of the state assembly and legislative council begun at 11 am and will continue till Thursday night without a break.

The Samajwadi Party organised a programme in which its president Akhilesh Yadav led the partymen in paying tributes to Gandhi.