Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had a dig at the opposition parties over the new culture of wearing caps of different colours in the House.
"Caps of different colours make the Vidhan Sabha look like a drama company," he said.
"The august House should not be taken lightly as a 'drama company' with some members sporting caps in red, some in blue, some yellow or even green," he said.
"A new tradition has started. Such things were never seen in the past. We used to see it only in drama parties," the chief minister said, addressing the Chair.
In an obvious reference to the Samajwadi Party without taking its name, Yogi Adityanath said, "There is a new culture of wearing caps of different colours red and yellow. I wonder whether they don the cap in their homes also."
In the same breath he reached out to Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary sitting on the opposite side with his Samajwadi Party's bright red cap on. "It would have looked nice if you had used a turban or a 'safa'," he said smilingly.
Yogi Adityanath referred to Chaudhary's constituency in Ballia, a place associated with late prime minister and socialist leader Chandrasekhar, and said it would have been better if he avoided such things.
The other leader who wears a yellow cap is Om Prakash Rajbhar of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party.
The assembly witnessed peals of laughter when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recalled how a child described a politician donning a cap as "goonda" and appealed to the members to see that the august House did not look like a "drama company".
Recalling an incident, he said, "A child once pointed out to a politician sporting a cap and described him as goonda (hooligan)," he said, winding up the debate on motion of thanks to the Governor for her address to the joint sitting of the state legislature on February 18.
Yogi Adityanath recalled that he had once been to a Basic Shiksha Parishad school in a village. There, an 'anna prashan' (a ceremony where a child takes cereals for the first time) function was also organised. At that function, some people belonging to a certain political party rushed in to lodge protest. They were donning caps. A toddler, who was there with his mother for the ceremony, was surprised to see them and screamed, "Mummy, mummy… look goonda, goonda."
"Now see what impression a two-and-half-year-old child has in his mind about a person wearing a cap. This impression has become a common opinion," the chief minister said.
Yogi Adityanath then said it should not be taken as a personal affront by any member.
The House had a light banter as till then it was not clear as to whom the chief minister could have been referring to.