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The ongoing winter session took a dramatic turn when Patel squatted on the premises of the UP Assembly in protest, after the speaker interrupted her from speaking as she tried to accuse the UP Government of corruption.
Samajwadi Party MLA Pallavi Patel stages a protest during the Winter session of Uttar Pradesh Assembly over alleged irregularities in Technical Education Department, in Lucknow, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Image: PTI)
Pallavi Patel, the leader of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), who staged a protest at Uttar Pradesh Assembly after walking out of the winter assembly session. The ongoing winter session took a dramatic turn on Monday when the Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA squatted on the premises of the UP Assembly in protest, after the speaker interrupted her from speaking as she tried to accuse the UP Government of corruption.
However, the protest, which was quite a rare sight, ended after nine long hours on Monday night, when Suresh Khanna, cabinet minister, also the Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in UP, pacified the angry MLA and assured her that she will be allowed to speak.
Who is Pallavi Patel?
Dr Pallavi Patel is an Indian politician and the leader of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), a political party founded by her father, the late Dr Sone Lal Patel. She is currently a Member of the UP Assembly, representing the Sirathu constituency as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party (SP). Pallavi gained national attention in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections when she defeated Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya by a margin of 7,337 votes.
Pallavi Patel is the sister of Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and president of the Apna Dal (Soneylal) party. The political rivalry between the two sisters is widely known.
What happened at the UP Assembly?
The incident took place when Patel accused the tec
hni
cal education department, headed by Minister Ashish Patel, her brother-in-law and husband of Union Minister Anupriya Patel, of corruption in promotions. She alleged that ineligible candidates were promoted to the position of HoD in government and aided polytec
hni
cs, violating new guidelines. The House was adjourned, and when it resumed at 12:20 pm, Speaker Satish Mahana denied her permission to discuss the issue, citing procedural rules, and asked her to sit or leave the House. An adamant Patel walked out and staged a dharna near Chaudhary Charan Singh’s statue outside Vidhan Bhavan, announcing that her protest would continue until the government addressed the alleged scam.While talking to the reporters, she said that there are 147 government and 19 aided polytec
hni
cs. “Rules were followed in the Gorakhpur region and violated in other parts of the state. This could not have happened without undue favour and I wanted the government to reply on this,” said Patel, while staging an indefinite protest at Chaudhary Charan Singh statue in Vidhan Bhavan.
What Ashish Patel said
However, while responding to Patel’s allegations, her brother-in-law and Pradesh Tec
hni
cal Education Minister Ashish Patel on Monday dismissed claims regarding irregularities in the recruitment process within the Basic Education Department, calling them baseless and part of a political conspiracy aimed at ending his career. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Patel, also an Apna Dal (S) leader, stated, “Baseless and unfounded allegations are being made in the media and social media as part of a conspiracy to murder me politically. The entire UP knows about the protection of the interests of the workers coming from the deprived class in the Tec
hni
cal Education Department during my tenure as minister.”
Patel expressed his willingness to undergo a CBI inquiry not just for the recruitment process but for all decisions made during his tenure. He emphasised, “Truth cannot be harmed. If the Hon’ble Chief Minister deems it necessary, he should get the allegations investigated by the CBI. I would even say that in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, he should also get each and every decision taken by me as a minister investigated by the CBI.”
How Pallavi’s nine-hour-long protest ended
Pallavi Patel’s protest, however, ended after nine long hours when UP Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna arrived at Vidhan Sabha around 10:30 pm to pacify her. It took nearly 15 minutes for Khanna to calm the SP MLA, after which she agreed to leave the premises, stating that she had been assured she would be allowed to speak in the House. As she left the Assembly, Patel said, “I will present my point in the House on Tuesday.”
