UP House to hold special session to mark 70th Constitution Day

The Uttar Pradesh legislature will on Tuesday hold a special day-long session to mark 70 years of the adoption of the Constitution.

The joint sitting of the state assembly and legislative council to mark Constitution Day will begin at 11 am with Governor Anandiben Patel addressing lawmakers.

Assembly Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit said there will be no Question Hour or adjournment notices and expected the session to last up to 6 or 6.30 pm.

At the business advisory meet held on Monday, all parties decided to participate in the session," he told reporters on Monday.

The MLAs and MLCs will discuss the Constitution and ideas of Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution.

The Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949 but it came into effect on January 26, 1950, celebrated as Republic Day.

Parliament and some other state legislatures have lined up events to mark Constitution Day.

The Uttar Pradesh legislature had convened another special session earlier this year on October 2, marking the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The House held an uninterrupted 36-hour-long debate on Gandhi and sustainable development goals, an idea espoused by him.

The joint session on Gandhi was, however, boycotted by opposition Samajwadi Party and the Congress. Both are expected to take part in Tuesday's Constitution Day session.

"We will participate in the special session," SP spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury told PTI.