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The ‘Urdu vs Awadhi’ drama ensued during the Budget session of the Uttar Pradesh State Assembly when Vidhan Sabha Speaker Satish Mahana informed the House about first-of-its-kind initiative of broadcasting proceedings in multiple languages.
CM Yogi highlighted that the original Ramcharitra Manas written in Awadi is widely read in countries like Mauritius and Fiji, where people from the Hindi belt migrated and settled.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday asked the Samajwadi Party why were they against Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Bundelkhandi languages, and only promoted Urdu. He accused the Opposition of sending their children to English medium schools, while wanting other children to “study Urdu and become maulvis“.
CM Yogi’s attack on the Opposition came when Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker Satish Mahana informed the House the channel numbers for various languages in which the Assembly proceedings will be broadcast.
The Speaker said that as informed by the chief minister earlier, the aim of the initiative is to connect more people with the democratic process, especially those residing in the rural belt of the state.
For the unversed, the proceedings of the UP Vidhan Sabha — in a first — are now available in multiple languages and dialects like Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj, Bundeli, and English.
A report in Times of India stated that any member will be able to listen to a legislator’s speech in local dialect by switching on their headphones. Similarly, if members want to speak in the house in any dialect or regional language, they will be able to do so, and the headphones will have the facility to translate it into Hindi or any other language, the report mentioned.
While the Speaker was explaining the new development in the House, a Samajwadi Party MLA stood up and said that they are not against Awadhi, Bundelkhandi, “but why is English part of the plan?” “…And if we are including English, then why leave out Urdu? The proceedings should be available in Urdu too,” he said.
Replying to the protest, CM Yogi Adityanath said, “…This is the problem with you people, you (Samajwadi Party) will oppose every good work which is in the interest of the state. This type of opposition should be condemned…These people will teach their children in English medium schools but if the govt wants to give facilities to other’s children, they will make them study Urdu, they want them to become Maulvis…”
#WATCH | In the Assembly, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath says “…This is the problem with you people, you (Samajwadi Party) will oppose every good work which is in the interest of the state. This type of opposition should be condemned…These people will teach their children… pic.twitter.com/CctSIyOQgg— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2025
The ‘Urdu vs Awadhi’ drama ensued during the Budget session of the Uttar Pradesh State Assembly. Ahead of the session, CM Yogi appealed the Opposition to cooperate so that the session can run peacefully till March 5.
Yogi Adityanath said, “The session will start with Governor’s speech. The budget for the whole year will be passed during this session. Various other issues related to people’s welfare and development are also discussed during this session. From tomorrow there will be discussion on Governor’s speech. On February 20 from the year 2025-26 the state budget of Uttar Pradesh would be presented in the Vidhan Sabha. The session will start today and go on till March 5.”
