Lucknow, Dec 5 : Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs on Monday staged a demonstration outside the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly protesting against alleged malpractices in the ongoing by-elections. The MLAs sat on the footsteps on the state of Chaudhary Charan Singh, carrying placards with anti-government slogans. They claimed that the administration was rigging the bypolls and the Election Commission was a silent spectator. SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said: "Our legislators sat on a dharna to point out misuse of official machinery by the BJP in by polls. They were preventing people from casting votes. "In the BJP regime, price rise is at its peak, youth are not getting employment and law and order has broken down in the state. The BJP has failed on all fronts. We are here to point out the government's failures." /IANS