A municipal platform became the stage of a larger political confrontation at the Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s special session on the women’s reservation issue on Thursday as mayor Sushma Kharkwal questoned Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his party workers having allegedly resorted to vandalism wherein they targeted a nameplate at her residence on Wednesday.
Simultaneously, the LMC House passed a censure motion amid protests and a walkout by Opposition corporators soon after the session started. The mayor had convened the special session to discuss the women’s reservation bill and denounce those who did not let it pass in the Lok Sabha last week.
As proceedings began around 11 am, Opposition corporators created a ruckus within minutes, arguing that the civic body should prioritise pressing urban issues such as sanitation, drainage, and infrastructure instead of debating matters beyond its jurisdiction.
By 11.15am, the mayor was reading the speech when Opposition corporators walked out after staging a protest, calling the session a political drama.
Raising the issue at the outset, Kharkwal questioned the actions of SP workers accused of targeting her residence a day earlier.
“I consider myself the elder sister of the national president of the party. I want to ask my brother Akhilesh Yadav whether this is right,” she said, referring to the protest in which her nameplate was allegedly targeted. (According to a news agency report, SP workers had staged the protest over alleged remarks linked to Akhilesh Yadav’s late mother. The mayor had clarified that her statement was misrepresented.)
The mayor said she had been elected by over five lakh citizens as the “first citizen” of Lucknow.
“Is this how you respect the mandate of the people of Lucknow? Who did you hit with your shoes?” she asked, as a video of the incident circulated widely on social media, fuelling political reactions.
According to a video clip which has gone viral, SP supporters reached the mayor’s residence on Wednesday, raised slogans, blackened the nameplate and hit it with slippers and shoes. Kharkwal described the act as reflective of the “character” of the SP and accused the opposition of disrespecting women.
The special session had been convened to pass a censure motion over the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha. However, SP and Congress corporators opposed the discussion of a national legislative issue within a municipal forum.
Congress corporator Mukesh Singh Chauhan also wrote to the mayor, questioning the motion’s relevance and urging a focus on local governance.
The disruption intensified, prompting deployment of police personnel from Hazratganj police station to maintain order inside the House.
Despite the uproar, the mayor announced that the censure motion was passed with a majority. According to official figures, 93 out of 119 corporators voted in favour of the motion, while Opposition members boycotted the process and walked out in protest.
The session also witnessed controversial remarks from BJP corporator Ramnaresh Rawat, who said he would “garland and then beat with shoes” those responsible for the vandalism at the mayor’s residence.
On the other hand, SP corporator Asha Rawat alleged that the ruling side suppressed dissent and denied space for raising civic concerns.
Congress corporators Mamta Chaudhary and Mukesh Singh Chauhan staged a sit-in protest at the portico of the LMC headquarters after boycotting the House proceedings.
