BJP members post queries to its own government

Lucknow: An unwieldy majority in a state assembly can often lead to problems and even demolish traditions.

The question hour, according to legislative experts, is mainly meant for Opposition members who raise issues and seek the reply of the government.

In Uttar Pradesh, as a matter of tradition, members from the ruling party have rarely posted questions, but on Wednesday, 31 questions were posted from the treasury benches.

The maximum number of questions came from first time BJP MLA, Neeraj Bora, who had put up 19 questions. Most of the questions were related to urban development and housing. The Opposition tried to queer the pitch by asking supplementary questions though the Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit did not allow too many supplementary questions.

A veteran legislator from the BSP said that he was surprised to find members of the ruling party put up questions.

“Though there is no specified rule, tradition does not allow members from treasury benches to post questions to the government. They usually use the calling attention motion if they wish to draw the government’s attention to a particular issue. But since the BJP has such a huge majority, there is no stopping them from breaking all traditions”, he said.