Congress walks out of UP assembly after dig against N.D. Tiwari

Lucknow, June 30 (IANS) Congress members walked out of the Uttar Pradesh assembly Saturday after a tiff with legislators of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) when Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan made some remarks against former chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari.

The fight broke out when Congress leader Pramod Tiwari requested, during a cut motion on the housing budget, that the state government should emulate schemes of former chief ministers Veer Bahadur Singh and Tewari and come with housing projects for legislators and journalists like Vidhayakpuram and Patrakarpuram of the 1980s.

At this Khan made an unsavoury remark on Tiwari, who served as chief minister of both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Congress members took umbrage to his statement and asked Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey to expunge the statement.

Pandey assured the angry Congress legislators that he would look into the matter. BJP members also castigated Khan for making such remarks.

Angry at Khan's statement, the Congress legislators walked out of the House. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav later intervened and requested the chair to expunge Azam Khan's remark from the records of proceedings.