SP members raise slogans in UP Assembly; slam govt over SIR
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party MLAs on Monday protested inside the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on various issues, including the special intensive revision exercise and alleged insult to Malwa queen Ahilyabai Holkar.
When the House met at 11 am and Speaker Satish Mahana invited the governor to read out the address, senior Samajwadi Party (SP) member Dr Sangram Yadav raised the SIR issue.
When the governor started speaking, SP legislators moved to the well of the House in front of the Speaker’s podium and raised slogans such as “Insult to Mata Ahilyabai will not be tolerated by Hindustan.”
Terming the Governor’s address as a “bundle of lies”, SP members shouted slogans including “False speech will not be accepted”, “Governor Madam, go back” and “Governor, go back”.
The sloganeering by SP members continued till the conclusion of the address.
SP members had come to the House carrying placards with slogans written on them.
SP MLA Sachin Yadav reached the House wearing a kurta bearing a picture of Holkar on the front and an image of Manikarnika Ghat (in Varanasi) printed on the back, while SP MLA Atul Pradhan carried a large photograph of Holkar.
Amid slogans such as “Killer of Dalits and backwards” and “Anti-reservation government will not be accepted”, the governor completed her address, which lasted for over 30 minutes.
During the address, she listed the achievements of the Uttar Pradesh government under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while SP members continued their protest and sloganeering in front of the Speaker’s chair.
Ahead of the start of the session, SP MLAs had held protests in Assembly premises against the alleged anti-people policies of the state government.
With placards in their hands, they alleged that the BJP government was playing with the rights of PDA (Picchde Dalit Alpsankhyak) community.
During the protest, SP national spokesperson and Legislative Council member Rajendra Chaudhary alleged that the government had failed on all fronts.
SP members were vocal on the issue of the discrepancies in SIR of the electoral rolls.
Opposition members were carrying placards with slogans such as “Rights for all, justice for all, PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority) will prevail”, “Give jobs to youth, end unemployment” and “Destruction in the name of development, no hope from the BJP”.
Party legislator Yadav, who was holding a poster of Holkar, raised the issued of demolitions at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, alleging that the government insulted Holkar, who had developed the ghats nearly 300 years ago.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
