Leader of Opposition Fadnavis termed the allegations made against the 12 BJP MLAs as “false”. A story is being created… no one from the party abused the Speaker.
Nagpur/Mumbai: In a major development that is likely to have strong political ramifications, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker on Monday suspended 12 BJP MLAs for one year for allegedly creating a ruckus inside the House.
According to reports, 12 BJP MLAs were disqualified for allegedly abusing Bhaskar Jadhav, the Speaker-in-Chair, while the Monsoon Session of the State Assembly was underway. The Uddhav Thackray-led MVA Government accused the 12 BJP MLAs of “misbehaving” with presiding officer Jadhav in the Speaker’s chamber.
The motion to suspend the BJP MLAs was moved by State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Parab and it was passed by a voice vote. The 12 BJP MLAS who were suspended are — Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Parag Alavani, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jay Kumar Rawat, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Bunty Bhangdia.
Parab said during the period of suspension, the 12 legislators will not be allowed to enter the Legislature premises in Mumbai and Nagpur. However, the former Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis has denied any wrongdoing by the BJP legislators.
Fadnavis also termed the allegations made against the 12 BJP MLAs as “false” and strongly condemned their suspension from the State Assembly. “These are false allegations. A story is being created… no one from the BJP abused the Speaker,” Fadnavis told the media. He warned that the opposition would boycott the House proceedings.
“For OBC (Other Backward Castes) reservations, we are ready to sacrifice more than 12 MLAs,” he added, referring to one of the key issues that his party is set to flag during this session. Fadnavis said the BJP members had not abused the presiding officer. “It was Shiv Sena MLAs who used abusive words. I brought our MLAs out of the Speaker’s chamber,” the Leader of Opposition said.
Ashish Shelar apologised and the matter ended, the former CM said, claiming that what Jadhav said was a “one-sided” account. It emerged that the BJP legislators were demanding reservation for the OBCs and resorted to sloganeering while the proceedings inside the Assembly were underway.
Today is the first day of the Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Assembly. The two-day Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Assembly got off to a stormy start with Fadnavis targeting the state government over an MPSC aspirant’s suicide and the short duration of the session.
The BJP leader demanded that House members be allowed to use all legislative tools to highlight various issues and all questions submitted to be answered.
“The Opposition leaders came to my cabin and abused me using unparliamentary language in front of Devendra Fadnavis and senior leader Chandrakant Patil. Some leaders even manhandled me,” Mr Jadhav told the media.
The Opposition alleged that the Speaker-in-Chair also abused the leaders who went to meet him. Mr Jadhav then asked the state’s Parliamentary Affairs minister to investigate the issue.
“This Thackeray Government is acting like the Taliban. I condemn the action. Neither me nor any other MLAs abused Bhaskar Jadhav,” BJP MLA Ashish Shelar said. “None of the BJP members used abuses in the cabin. I even apologized to him but despite that they suspended,” he added.
