LucknowAug 13, 2025 17:19 IST
First published on: Aug 13, 2025 at 17:19 IST
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The 24-hour marathon session of both Houses of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature to debate a ‘Vision Document 2047’ began at around 11.30 am on Wednesday amid protests by the Opposition, which first demanded the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government’s reply on the fulfillment of promises made in the BJP’s “Sankalpa Patras”, or manifestos, ahead of the 2017 and 2022 Assembly polls.
Some members of the Opposition also demanded a longer Monsoon Session, which is being held across four days and began on Monday, rather than a 24-hour-long session that goes through the night. However, the BJP government has put in place a detailed plan to ensure the continuous presence of MLAs, MLCs and ministers by dividing them into groups and assigning each a three-hour slot over the course of the session.
Sources in the government said while all legislators are expected to attend the session till 6 pm, several ministers have been assigned slots for the late night hours to ensure attendance and continuity through the session.
Starting 6 pm on Wednesday in the Legislative Assembly, four ministers – Sugarcane Development and Sugar Industry Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, MSMEs and Textiles Minister Rakesh Sachin, Minister of State (MoS) for Excise and Prohibition Nitin Agarwal, and MoS for Rural Development Vijay Laxmi Gautam – have been assigned the three-hour slot till 9 pm.
The next group of ministers, expected to be present from 9 pm to 12 am, include Higher Education Minister Yogendra Upadhyaya, MoS for Skill Development Kapil Dev Agarwal, MoS for Food and Civil Supplies Satish Chandra Sharma. Then on Thursday, four ministers will attend from 12 am to 3 am – Science and Technology Minister Anil Kumar, MoS for Transport Dayashankar Singh, MoS for Food Security and Drug Administration Dayashankar Mishra and MoS for Public Works Department Brajesh Singh.
From 3 am to 6 am, which would be considered the most difficult slot, a group of eight ministers has been assigned so in the case of any absences there are enough ministers to represent the government. These ministers include Labour Minister Anil Rajbhar, MoS for Sports Girish Chandra Yadav, MoS for Agriculture Baldev Singh Olakh, MoS for Jal Shakti Dinesh Khatik, MoS for SC/ST Welfare Sanjeev Gond, Jal Shakti Minister Ramkesh Nishad, MoS for Labour Manohar Lal, and MoS for Forest and Environment K P Malik.
Then, from 6 am to 9 am, five ministers have been assigned – Tourism and Culture Minister Jayveer Singh, Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta, MoS for Basic Education Sandeep Singh, MoS for Stamp and Registration Department Ravindra Jaiswal and MoS for Energy Somendra Tomar.
From 9 am to 11 am, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad, MoS for Secondary Education Gulab Devi and MoS for Higher Education Rajni Tiwari will be present.
Similarly, groups of three ministers each have also been given three-hour time slots in the Legislative Council from 6 pm on August 13 to 11 am on August 14.
While 28 ministers have been assigned slots in the Assembly, 18 ministers will be in attendance in the Legislative Council. In the Assembly, there will be 10 Cabinet ministers and 18 MoS, including those with independent charges. Only two of these ministers – Sanjay Nishad of the NISHAD Party and Anil Kumar of the RLD – belong to non-BJP parties.
The ministers have been asked to present the “2047 vision” for their respective departments during the session, which UP Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna said was the first of its kind in any state after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to make India a developed nation by 2027. In response to the Opposition’s demand for the government’s reply on how many of its poll promises were fulfilled, Khanna said that voters brought the BJP-led government back to power with a majority in 2022 based on the 2017 and 2022 manifestos.