Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday mounted a blistering attack on the opposition.
Replying to the debate on the Governor's address, the chief minister slammed the opposition for raising objections over the Governor's delay of a few minutes in coming to the House for her address on February 18 and creating disturbance during her address.
"There should be respect for those occupying constitutional positions. They do not belong to one party but are above political lines. The tendency to attack such persons is a matter of concern," he said, and added, "The Governor is the constitutional head of the state and if the legislature fails to respect the head of the state then it will be a crisis before our political system."
The chief minister added, "The opposition may not like to respect the constitutional head of the state but they should at least respect a woman Governor, are we not hurting and damaging the constitutional symbols by our conduct."
The chief minister, without taking names, also criticised the Aam Aadmi Party over its allegation of a scam in the purchase of oximeters and PPE kits.
"When we probed the matter, we found that these items were purchased at a much higher rate in Delhi. When we told this to them (AAP), they have been quiet after that," he said.
Targeting former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the chief minister said that those who reached Parliament from Uttar Pradesh were now ridiculing the state in Kerala.
"Who is insulting UP and Amethi? Who has the time to visit Italy but not Amethi? Who is now visiting temples in UP?" he asked, even as Congress members made feeble attempts to protest.
Yogi Adityanath said the Congress had turned the coronavirus pandemic into a joke when it said it wanted to send 1,000 buses for migrant workers.
The chief minister accused the Congress of playing dirty jokes on the people of UP and petty politics during the height of the crisis caused by the pandemic. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, they said that 1,000 buses were being provided for the labourers by the Congress general secretary. I called for an investigation so that they (buses) could be placed accordingly. I found that what they called buses had number plates of scooters and three-wheelers. And more than half of the vehicles had already gone for scrap. Is this a joke with the people of UP or not? Such a joke should not have happened during the pandemic," Yogi Adityanath added.
"Now in Kerala, the same thing is happening. If Congress really wanted to give buses then why did it not provide buses to students stuck in Kota, Rajasthan," he said, hitting out at the Congress.
The chief minister said. "India has developed two vaccines and two more are to be made available soon and India has provided free vaccines to many friendly countries but some people are not happy with the emergence of a new India."
Accusing the Congress of maligning India and Indian army before the audience of foreigners, the chief minister said, "What kind of mentality is this where the Congress maligns the image of India, insults the Indian institutions and Indian army before the ambassadors of different countries in India."
The chief minister said this mentality of the Congress had created a new crisis of national security of India.