E-Paper
Uttar Pradesh assembly: Samajwadi Party members force adjournment over caste census demand
In Uttar Pradesh assembly, agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi says ordering caste census is Centre’s prerogative
The Uttar Pradesh assembly was adjourned for more than half-an-hour during question hour on Thursday when Samajwadi Party (SP) members staged a dharna (sit-in) in the well of the House, shouting slogans against the state government and demanding that caste census should be conducted in Uttar Pradesh on the lines of Bihar.
Though speaker Satish Mahana repeatedly urged the Samajwadi Party members to return to their seats and make their point, the SP members continued slogan- shouting till the speaker adjourned the House for nearly 15 minutes at about 11.43am.
The adjournment was later extended till 12.20pm, marking the end of question hour.
It all began with a question by Samajwadi Party member Sangram Yadav, who had asked whether the state government would hold the caste census in Uttar Pradesh before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Replying to the question, agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi said the subject of the census had been listed at serial number 69 of the Union list of the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India. He said the Union government has enacted the Census Act 1948 and Census Rules 1990, adding that the subject of holding a caste census was thus within the purview of the Union government, not the state government.When some Samajwadi Party (SP) members said the Bihar government was already conducting a caste census, the minister said Uttar Pradesh was way ahead of Bihar and would not like to return on the same path. “We will not like to make (a) Bihar of Uttar Pradesh,” said Shahi.
The Samajwadi Party members, meanwhile, entered the well of the House and began shouting anti-government slogans.As the pleas to the members to take their seats failed to make any impact, the speaker said he may consider naming the members and those named would have to leave the House. The speaker asked SP national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav to convince the SP members to return to their seats. The SP members, however, staged a sit-in and returned to their seats only after adjournment of the House.
