Summary:
Lucknow, Oct 18 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday justified supporting rebel SP candidate NItin Agarwal for the post of deputy speaker and said the opposition party was unable to bring forward a young face in the past four-and-half years."We were waiting for the past four-and-half years that the principal opposition party will put forward a young face for the post of deputy speaker.
But, in the absence of any positive approach, and when the term of the House is going to end in the next six months, it would be good, if we give this responsibility to any youth.
The new deputy speaker is young as well as experienced,” the CM told the House after Agarwal’s election to the post.BJP-backed SP rebel Agarwal was on Monday elected Deputy Speaker in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, defeating his party’s official candidate Narendra Verma by 244 votes.Agarwal got 304 votes compared to Verma’s 60 in the polling held through ballot papers at a special one-day assembly session here.Adityanath further said it would have been better if the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) had given this proposal earlier itself."I know that he will say that there has been tampering in the polls.
During the assembly and Lok Sabha polls (when public gives its verdict), they blame the EVMs.
I think that the picture of the 2022 polls has emerged," he said, hitting out at the Samajwadi Party (SP).The CM asserted that Agarwal is a three-time MLA and "technically a member of the SP".Sharpening his attack on the SP, he said, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, when we held a meeting of leaders of various parties, the SP had boycotted the meeting.
A special session was convened on Sustainable Development Goals, but SP boycotted it because it (the session) was related to poverty alleviation, employment for youth, better health, quality education and doubling income of the farmers.“But, SP has nothing to do with these, and it opposed.