Opposition’s unruly act shamed the House, says UP governor Ram Naik

Naik expressed his views while interacting with some media persons during his visit to Allahabad to attend a function organised by Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU).

A day after opposition members led by the Samajwadi Party threw paper balls at him during the joint sitting of both houses of the state legislature, governor Ram Naik on Tuesday said their unruly conduct had shamed the House and hurt its prestige.

Marshals protect UP Governor Ram Naik from paper balls thrown by agitating Opposition MLAs during his address on the first day of the UP Assembly session in Lucknow on Monday.(PTI Photo)

He said although the opposition had the constitutional right to air its views, disrupting the governor’s address was wrong. The governor also said the opposition should make full use of the opportunity that comes its way during discussion on the address. However, he said he was deeply saddened by the misguided aggression of the opposition benches. The governor said it presented a poor image of the state before the world.

Naik expressed his views while interacting with some media persons during his visit to Allahabad to attend a function organised by Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU). The session was the first after the Yogi Adityanath government came to power in March.

It was also the first time proceedings were being aired live on Doordarshan, which caught the unruly scenes as the legislators shouted slogans protesting what they described the worsening law and order situation in the state. They threw paper balls at Naik, some of which even hit him, despite marshals trying to shield the governor with the help of files.

Naik said that even the opposition knew that the address delivered by the governor was prepared by the government as those in the opposition now were themselves in power some time ago. “I believe there should be a constructive debate between the opposition and the government on the address with focus on issues in place of creating unnecessary ruckus,” he said.

On law and order in UP, the governor said the government was committed to enforcing law strictly across the state. “Work of the state government cannot be assessed on the basis of few incidents taking place during the past 40-50 days,” he said.

Earlier he inaugurated the memorial lecture series in the memory of Jana Sangh founder Pt Deendayal Upadhyay. Naik said Upadhyay was a great human being whose views should be spread among the people. The governor also released a book published by the North Central Zone Cultural Centre (NCZCC) ‘Prayag Ke Pracheen Mandir..Ek Dharohar’ at the function presided over by UPRTOU vice chancellor MP Dube.