Senior UP minister hails Congress MLA, rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav

Senior Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Saturday welcomed Congress MLA Aditi Singh and rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav for attending the 36-hour-long, non-stop state assembly session, defying the opposition's call to boycott it.

Talking to reporters in neighbouring Siddharth Nagar district, Labour and Employment Minister also criticized senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MP Azam Khan for allegedly grabbing the poor's land for his university and said it's the people who are lodging FIRs against him and not the government.

"Azam Khan grabbed the land of the poor for his university and people were harassed and exploited by his party's government. He was misusing power and now people are lodging FIRs against him. It has nothing to do with the government. The law is taking its own course," said Maurya.

Congress MLA Aditi Singh and rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav who floated his own party recently, defied the opposition's call to boycott the 36-hour-long, non-stop session of the state assembly and heaped praise on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the Vidhan Saba during the session.

Asked about it, Maurya said, "Both of them are welcome and the opposition can't accuse the government of it.