Lucknow: Samajwadi Party Thursday demanded immediate withdrawal of cases against party workers, who had protested against their national president Akhilesh Yadav being stopped from proceeding to Allahabad, forcing adjournment of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. During the Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary raised the matter of protesting party workers being allegedly framed in “fake” cases and demanded their immediate withdrawal.
“The right to protest has been enshrined in the Constitution. The partymen were protesting against humiliation of their leader…we are not enemies… you can also be on this side in the future,” Chaudhary said. In his reply, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna said the right is to stage peaceful protest and not to create “anarchy”. “SP activist slapped policemen in uniform and police used slight force to control the situation which could otherwise have turned bad,” Khanna said, adding action has been taken as per rules and no one taking law in his hand would be allowed to go scot free.
Chaudhary asked Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit to give a direction to the government on the issue but was told that cases lodged are being looked into. As the Speaker took up the next issue on the agenda, SP workers created uproar, leading to adjournment of the House for 40 minutes. On Tuesday, Akhilesh Yadav said he was stopped by authorities at the Lucknow airport in a bid to prevent him from visiting Allahabad.
