In an unprecedented move Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Mata Prasad Pandey ordered forceful eviction of opposition members from the House after they staged noisy protest inside the well over poor law and order and other issues. After the infamous clash inside the Assembly of October 21, 1997 when about 50 members were injured when mikes were used as missiles, this is first time when Speaker ordered eviction of members from the House. The instigation for eviction came from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Azam who suggested Speaker to identify the Opposition members who had entered the well of House before Speaker came and remove them from the House. Taking the cue from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Speaker ordered eviction of all opposition members including BSP, BJP, Congress and RlD.
“It is probably the most severe decision of my life. I avoided taking any harsh decision in last four and half years. But now I was forced to take this decision,” Speaker said justifying his decision ordering eviction of law makers. It was probably first time when 100 or so members were evicted enmass from the House. The marshal and watch and ward staff looks bemused at the order of Speaker as this had never happened in the House. The marshal confirmed it from Principal Secretary Pradeep Dubey and once he nodded the head in affirmation the eviction began.
Some members were forcefully pushed out of House while the BJP members walked out of the House raising anti-Government slogans.
The BJP ,BSP, Congress and RlD members sat on dharna in the gallery of the Vidhan Sabha and raised slogans against Government. “Speaker sahib should atleast tell us what is our fault,” Satish Mahana, legislator from Kanpur said. leader of opposition Gayacharan Dinkar said that it was the back day for Indian democracy when ruling party stopped Opposition from raising people’s issue. “The Opposition has the right to protest and we were exercising that right. It is not the first time opposition members have entered the well of the House. But it is the first time when Speaker ordered eviction of such a large number of law amkers,” he said.
BJP legislature party leader Suresh Khanna said that his party legislators were raising the issue of poor law and order situation and wanted to bring incidents of land grabbing to the knowledge of Government. But this government does not want opposition to raise any issue,” he said. Congress leader Pradeep Mathur said that act of the speaker was undemocratic. “It is a black day for the state assembly,” he said.
However state parliamentary affairs minister Mohammad Azam Khan contested opposition charges saying Speaker was forced to take harsh decision because of unruly behaviour of the legislators. “Both BJP and BSP are trying to foment communal trouble. The incidents of Muzzafarnagar and Dadri were well planned to reap political harvest and BJP has succeeded in its game plan. The members of these parties are not here to raise people’s issue they are out here to create trouble,” Khan said.