CM Yogi Adityanath congratulates Nitin Agarwal on being elected as Deputy Speaker of UP assembly

Image credit: PTI

Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has congratulated BJP-backed candidate Nitin Agarwal on his victory for the post of Deputy Speaker in the state assembly dubbing it as a picture of the 2022 assembly election results.

The CM, in his address in the state assembly on Monday, said the result had exposed the fallacy of the opposition unity. "The opposition including Samajwadi Party could not show unity even in the election of the Deputy Speaker, " he commented adding " this result is a clear indication of the assembly 2022 results." 

CM Yogi also expressed sympathy for Verma after SP candidate Narendra Verma who got only 60 votes. " Had the same SP made him a candidate four years ago, he could have possibly won," he pointed out.

He said despite knowing the result in advance, his own party made Narendra Verma the candidate and played a game of betrayal, in a way.

Taking a jibe at Samajwadi Party's failure as the largest opposition party, the CM said the BJP waited for a full four-and-a-half years, but the SP did not put forward any names for the Deptt Speaker post. Finally, in view of the last six months of the House remaining, the BJP took steps towards fulfilling this tradition.

Expressing happiness over getting a young, energetic, and experienced Deputy Speaker in the form of Nitin Agarwal, CM Yogi said that "technically" Nitin was also a member of SP and thus the BJP has followed the tradition of the House.

Talking about the defeat of the Samajwadi Party in the 2022 assembly elections, the Chief Minister also exhorted the SP to rise above the 'parivarvad( dynastic thinking)'.

" For SP, the family is the state, whereas, for the BJP, the entire state is a family," asserted the CM.

Commenting on the heated argument between Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna before the voting and the tall claims of the former,  the CM said the "Leader of the opposition Ramgovind Chaudhary is a gentleman who believes in dialogue but does not have the strength to bear the party contradictions, that is why unnecessary fights take place in the House."

Chief Minister Yogi also referred to the 36-hour special discussion on "Sustainable Development Goal" held in the House on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and said that when topics like poverty, illiteracy, women's upliftment, youth welfare were discussed, the Samajwadi Party never participated.

The CM thanked all the members who participated in the discussion on many topics of public importance in the state legislature in the last four and a half years.