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Speaker Satish Mahana
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Assembly was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, a day ahead of the schedule, as persistent protests by Samajwadi Party members over the “donation theft” at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya brought proceedings to a standstill for the second consecutive day.The uproar overshadowed an appeal by Speaker Satish Mahana, who made an emotional intervention seeking cooperation from the opposition to ensure the smooth functioning of the House. In a rare display of frustration, Mahana even questioned his own effectiveness as Speaker, saying he had been unable to run the House smoothly for the past two days and hinted that he might soon take a decision as he could not pacify the opposition benches.Immediately after the Speaker’s remarks, leader of opposition Mata Prasad Pandey reiterated the SP’s demand for a discussion on the Ayodhya temple donation issue, insisting that the opposition only wanted an opportunity to raise the matter on the floor of the House. Congress legislature party leader Aradhna Mishra ‘Mona’ also urged the Speaker to revoke the suspension of SP MLA Sachin Yadav for the remainder of the session.Despite Mahana’s assurance that he was willing to listen to all sides, opposition members continued sloganeering and remained in the well of the House. Unable to restore order, the Speaker left the chair. Senior BJP MLA Manju Shivach, who subsequently presided over the proceedings, adjourned the House.When the assembly reconvened later, BJP MLA Manish Asija took the chair and allowed business to continue amid the din. SP legislators continued their protest, but the government pressed ahead with its agenda. Parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna tabled two supplementary agenda items and also secured the passage of the supplementary budget by voice vote.The repeated disruptions severely curtailed legislative business. The Assembly functioned for less than around three hours during the entire three-day session.Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was not present in the House on Wednesday. The disruption also meant that, perhaps for the first time since his govt returned to power in 2022, he was unable to make a statement in the Assembly during the session.
