Monsoon Session begins at Uttar Pradesh Assembly; Opposition to raise issue of poor law and order situation

Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh are gearing up to corner the BJP-led government on the law and order situation in the state during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the state Assembly. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, who is a sitting MLA from Tamukhiraj assembly constituency in Kushinagar district, told PTI, “The Congress will raise issues of the poor law and order situation in the state, women security, problems faced by the farmers and flood”. Samajwadi Party MLA from Mohanlalganj in Lucknow Ambrish Pushkar said, “The Uttar Pradesh government has failed on all fronts. Be it the law and order situation or the coronavirus crisis. It also fears that BJP MLAs may corner it on a number of issues, as its own MLAs are angry with it.” Just before the start of the brief Monsoon Session of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature, the main Opposition party Samajwadi Party staged a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan on Thursday against the poor law and order in the state and the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. SP legislators protested in front of the statue of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh in the premises, holding banners against the state government while Member of the Legislative Council Naresh Uttam alleged that there was jungle raj in the state . “Incidents like murder, loot, rape and kidnapping are taking place on a daily basis. It appears that criminals have no fear of law,” he said. A BSP legislator requesting anonymity said that the party will be moving adjournment notice in the backdrop of recent incidents in Azamagarh. The killing of a village head of Basgaon in Azamgarh on 14 August triggered mob violence, which was further aggravated after a child was crushed to death by a vehicle, prompting rioters to set several vehicles and a police post in the area on fire. The trouble began when 42-year-old Satyamev, the village head of Basgaon in Tarwan area of Azamgarh district, was shot dead by some miscreants during the day, prompting his supporters to take to the streets and unleash violence in the area. Amid the rampaging mob, a child was crushed to death by a vehicle, further infuriating the people, who set many vehicles on fire. Subsequently, NSA was slapped against four people in connection with the incident. In Lakhimpur Kheri, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death following which two men were arrested. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday released the crime statistics, according to which in 2020 (from 1 January to 31 July) 1,216 incidents of rape took place as compared to 1,692 for the corresponding period in 2019. Similarly, 38 incidents of dacoity took place in 2020 as compared to 68 in 2019. As far as murders are concerned, in 2020, as many as 2,032 incidents of murders took place as compared to 2,204 in 2019. In 2019, 1,379 incidents of loot took place, while in 2020, 792 incidents of loot took place. The state saw 23 incidents of kidnapping for ransom in 2019, while in 2020, it was 15.