SP questions media absence during UP Assembly session

Lucknow, Feb 18 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Ram Govind Chaudhary, has questioned the ban on media coverage of the state legislature proceedings.Talking to reporters, he said, "Why is the press absent from the press gallery? Is the COVID-19 only affecting journalists? Does it not infect the legislators, ministers, chief minister, speaker and others?"The media has not been allowed coverage of the state legislature in the budget session due to the pandemic.Chaudhary further said that the Governor, in her address, did not mention a word about the farmers' agitation and the death of nearly 200 farmers. "Can there be anything more insensitive?" he asked.Congress legislature party leader Aradhana Mishra, said, "The government should have expressed its sympathy towards the more than 200 farmers who have died during protest. Most of the farmers who died are from UP. The government did not express any sympathy towards the farmers. We oppose the three black farm laws. The Unnao incident also is a major one and we demand a judicial inquiry in this."
--IANS amita/in