In an unprecedented decision and the first in Indian legislative history, UP Assembly Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar on Friday announced frisking of legislators, if needed, before their entry in the state Assembly hall. He also entrusted the responsibility of security of the Assembly premises to the SSP of Lucknow.The Speaker’s decision followed a protest by Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs who displayed black flags and black hydrogen-filled balloons, demanding dismissal of the Mayawati Government for its overall failure to run the state. They burst some balloons, and released others that stuck to the Assembly ceiling. The Speaker also directed the Home Department to conduct an inquiry as to how the balloons were smuggled in and their bursting inside the hall. As soon as Governor T V Rajeswar started reading his address to the joint session of the legislature, SP members began their protest. Members of the Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal also displayed anti-Government banners.
