 "UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Cabinet Minister Mohd Azam Khan during monsoon session of the assembly in Lucknow on Monday, 17 August 2015 Picture by PTI")
Unruly scenes and pandemonium marked the inaugural day of the Budget Session of Uttar Pradesh legislature today.
The opposition members belonging to the principal opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) engaged in slogan shouting and disruptions during the customary address to the joint sitting of the bicameral legislature by governor Ram Naik.
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The din started soon after he started his formal address with the opposition members rushing to the well of the house amid shrill slogan shouting.
The BSP members held banners and placards with anti-government slogans even as they shouted 'Rajyapal Wapas Jao' (governor go back). They were joined by Congress legislators, few of whom were sporting caps carrying the image of their party vice president Rahul Gandhi.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, however, desisted from the protest, although they sit in the opposition benches.
The din forced the governor to cut short his address, the hard copies of which were also distributed amongst the lawmakers.
The governor's address is a brief introduction to the major achievements of the state government during the past year and the plans for the next financial year.
UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who holds the finance portfolio also, would present State Budget for 2016-17 on February 12. This would the last full Budget of the present dispensation, since the state polls are due early next year. The next sitting of the UP legislature is due on February 8.
Some political commentators feel the Akhilesh government could favour an early election.
