Police recruitment drive: Opposition stall House, demand CBI probe

LUCKNOW: Alleging large-scale irregularities committed in the recent police recruitment drive, the united Opposition stalled the House proceeding demanding either a CBI or a judicial probe into the anomalies leading to the adjournment of the House for around two hours on Tuesday. Later, the opposition members forced the Speaker to rush through the day's business amidst the din, before he finally adjourned the House.
The issue was raised no sooner than the House proceedings for the day began, with leader of the Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya along with members of BJP, RLD and Congress demanded taking up the matter, deferring all other work.
Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey, however, disallowed the demand which resulted in opposition members jumping into the well of the House. Later, the BSP and the Congress staged a walkout. The Speaker asked the members to bring the issue through an adjournment notice.
The issue was raised again in the zro hour through an adjournment notice moved by the BJP and Congress.
Leader of Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya along with BJP's leader in the House Suresh Khanna and Satish Mahana, Congress leader Anugrah Narain Singh, RLD's Dalbir Singh and Veerpal Rathi alleged large scale irregularities in the police recruitment drive and demanded that the entire recruitment process be put on hold until the completion of judicial or CBI probe.
Interestingly, while calling minister for parliamentary affairs Mohd Azam Khan as `Bhishma Pitamah', questioning his silence in the matter, RLD's Veerpal Rathi alleged that during the drive over 33,000 youths have been recruited in two districts in which a particular caste has been given preference. BJP's Satish Mahana said that barring four districts, the youth in the state are on the streets for justice.
BJP leader Suresh Khanna demanded that the process to recruit 41,610 constables and 4,010 sub-inspectors be made public, and alleged that the youths have been betrayed by this government.
BSP's Swami Prasad Maurya expressed surprise that against the general rule of cancelling answer sheets where blades or whitners are used in examinations, the same was not done in the police examination. He also demanded a CBI probe into the irregularities.
Parliamentary affairs minister Mohd Azam Khan, however, hit out at the BJP government at the Centre saying that they should thank the SP government as it is providing jobs to youths which the Central government had failed to do.
“The Badshah who had promised to give jobs to crores of youths (for coming to power) has not been able to do so. It has been fulfilled in the state,” he said. He also hit out at the Opposition benches, and named leader of the Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya of trying to vitiate the atmosphere by beginning a caste war. It's a conspiracy by the Opposition, Khan said.
As the Oppostion members raising slogans like `Neta Mainpuri aur Kannauj ki sarkar nahin chalegi, nahin chalegi' and `Naujawan virodhi yeh sarkar nahin chalegi nahin chalegi', remained in the well of the House and squatted, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey first adjourned the House for 15 minutes and later extended it till 2.20 pm.
The Speaker later hurried with the day's business, including passing the budgets of various departments without cut motion being introduced. Amidst the din, parliamentary affairs minister Mohd Azam Khan was heard saying that it was a blot on democracy that budgets of the departments have been passed without any discussion and cut motion.
Later, the Speaker adjourned the House until Wednesday.