Summary:
Lucknow, Oct 18 (PTI) Accusing the ruling BJP of attempting to divert attention from the various problems plaguing Uttar Pradesh by going in for election for the post of deputy speaker, the Congress on Monday decided to boycott the poll.
Congress workers also sat in front of the state assembly carrying placards demanding justice for farmers who died in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on October 3.The party also alleged that both the BJP and SP were involved in a friendly fight and were keen on the election and not on discussing the various raging issues facing the state.“Neither the BJP nor the Samajwadi Party want to ensure justice for farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence or to discuss this important issue.
They are into a "noora kushti" (friendly fight) and so we are boycotting the deputy speaker"s election and sitting on a dharna,” UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu told PTI.The election to the post of deputy speaker, just months away from the assembly elections, is aimed only at misleading the people and also an effort to divert attention from the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, he charged.The Congress will continue this fight till Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra is dismissed, he said, adding we are sitting on a dharna on these issues.The election for the post of deputy speaker is slated for later in the day.
Nitin Agarwal, who was elected as a legislator on the Samajwadi Party ticket but then cozied up to the ruling BJP, is all set to be the deputy speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with the support of the saffron party.
A miffed Samajwadi Party, which has fielded Narendra Verma as its official candidate for the contest, had on Sunday hit out at the BJP, accusing it of trying to sabotage democracy, and asserted that the post should traditionally go to the opposition party.
After the election on Monday, Uttar Pradesh will get its first Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly after a gap of over 14 years.