Lucknow, March 26 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh assembly witnessed an uproar on Monday as opposition legislators protested against the Yogi Adityanath government's recent decision to privatise electricity in five major cities of the state.

Terming the decision "unfortunate", the opposition accused the BJP government of playing in the hands of the corporate houses.

Protesting against the cabinet go ahead for privatization, Samajwadi Party members walked out of the House.

The state government however justified its decision, saying that this would lead to better and adequate power supply to the people. Power Minister Shrikant Sharma said that the move stemmed from the commitment of the BJP government to provide better power supply to the people, while clarifying that private companies would only be involved in revenue collection and minimizing line losses.

He also categorically denied that production and transmission of power was being passed on to private players.

The minister also assured the house that the power arrears of state government departments would be cleared and deposited within one year and informed that a process of installing prepaid meters in all government offices and buildings has been initiated.

Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Ajay Kumar 'Lallu' however said that the decision of the state government was very unfortunate. He also drew the attention of the minister and the state government that power employees in the state were demonstrating on the streets and had snapped the power connection of the Darul Shafa complex, where many MLAs live.

He also said that the threat by power employees' organizations that they will go on a statewide strike on March 27 was a worrying signal, as this could plunge the state into chaos.