The Samajwadi Party (SP) today released visuals of two BJP MLAs playing video games and chewing tobacco inside the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. One video that was shared on Twitter and Facebook shows BJP MLA from Mahoba, Rakesh Goswami, playing a mobile game possibly a rummy game.

सदन की गरिमा को तार-तार कर रहे भाजपा विधायक!

महोबा से भाजपा विधायक सदन में मोबाइल गेम खेल रहे, झांसी से भाजपा विधायक तंबाकू खा रहे।

इन लोगों के पास जनता के मुद्दों के जवाब हैं नहीं और सदन को मनोरंजन का अड्डा बना रहे।

बेहद निंदनीय एवं शर्मनाक ! pic.twitter.com/j699IxTFkp

— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) September 24, 2022

The monsoon session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly was adjourned sine die on Friday. SP, which is the main opposition party, boycotted the assembly session on its final day and staged a protest alleging that the government failed to discuss raging issues of inflation and unemployment in the House.

Uttar Pradesh, a conservative state is known for its very strong stand against lottery and gaming for stakes. In fact in 2020, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told the UP assembly that setting up casinos in the state would lead to degradation of moral values and create a law and order crisis.

BJP is yet to officially respond on the allegations of its legislator playing a mobile game when the assembly session is on.

Recently, Uttar Pradesh joined West Bengal in the Group of Ministers to support goods and services tax (GST) on online gaming, horse racing and casinos at a uniform rate of 28% on the full value of the consideration, without making a distinction between games of skill or chance, even as the group of ministers (GoM) on the matter sought legal advice. This has left observers baffled as both states are on different ends of the political spectrum.