Yogi government faces strong criticism in assembly

Lucknow, July 12 (IANS) On the second day of the budget session on Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh government came under severe attack from opposition parties, who accused it of not being able to handle the issues facing people.

Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Ajay Kumar Lallu raised the matter of floods in many districts and accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of the people.

"People are facing a lot of difficulties in Maharajganj, Gonda, Kushinagar, Bahraich and Lakhimpur, but the government is doing nothing to help the people caught in floods," he said.

The previous Samajwadi Party (SP) government too had failed to pay heed to their advice and make advance arrangements before the monsoon.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath responded by saying that the state government was alive to the situation and that the floods were a perpetual problem.

He pointed out that this year, however, there had been heavy rains, leading to floods in many places. "We have established flood control rooms in every district and are monitoring the situation."

Former minister and SP legislator Durga Prasad Yadav raked up the matter of recent hooch tragedy in Azamgarh and sought to corner the government for its failure to arrest illicit liquor trade in the state.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna rebutted the charges and said the government had responded swiftly to the tragedy and the guilty would not be spared.

"Families of the victims have been given ex-gratia, excise employees and officials have been suspended," the minister further informed.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator Sukhdev Rajbhar, however, accused the state government of fudging facts and hiding the actual tally of victims in the hooch tragedy.

He also demanded that a five-member parliamentary committee be formed by the state government to probe the matter or the issue be probed by a senior official.

To this, Khanna said an Additional District Magistrate (ADM) was already probing the matter and reiterated that the government was not hiding anything.