Congress legislator from Rae Bareli, Aditi Singh, created a flutter when she attended the special session of Uttar Pradesh legislature convened on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi despite a boycott call given by her party.
She entered the House around 7 pm and took her seat on the opposition benches and took the floor at 7:30 pm and addressed the House.
Aditi Singh supported Narendra Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 that gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and said it was the right decision taken at the right time.
“The BJP government has shown the political will to scrap this temporary act which is commendable,” Aditi Singh said.
“As a representative of literate people, it is my duty to raise the voice of my voters. I have never been afraid of speaking out at the appropriate platform,” Singh said while reacting on why she was in the Assembly even after the boycott by her party.
“There are several problems, including non-availability of  drinking water and  poverty. I work for generating solar energy and promoting rain water harvesting,” she said.
Congress boycotted the special session, questioning why it was held.
“Does the BJP want to project itself as the true follower of Gandhiji through this session? asked Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’.
“In fact, the BJP is using Gandhiji’s name to enter into a record book. This is the only motive of the BJP government,” the CLP leader told this reporter in Lucknow.
“Gandhi’s statues were being vandalised in the state while temples of the Mahatma’s assassin were constructed and he was glorified. The BJP is now indulging in tokenism to cleanse its image,” Lallu pointed out.
When he was asked about Aditi Singh attending the special session, the CLP leader said that he got the information from the media and was checking its authenticity.
However, no other senior leader of the Congress was ready to comment on the Aditi issue.
When Aditi Singh was asked what she would do if her party took action against her, the MLA said: “It is up to the party to decide.”
With Aditi Singh attending Wednesday’s special session of the UP legislature, the political grapevine was agog with speculation that she might join the BJP.  Sources said that when her father Akhilesh Singh expired, many senior BJP leaders went to meet her and Prime Minister Narendra Modi called her to express his condolence.
Aditi earlier in the day gave a miss to the high profile padyatra of the Congress held in Lucknow on Wednesday that was led by party general secretary in-charge east UP, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.