Opposition walks out of Maharashtra Assembly over Rahul poster row

Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat called the incident of slapping Gandhi's poster with footwear unfortunate

The Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Saturday staged a walkout accusing the Speaker of delaying action against members who hit a poster of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with footwear on the legislature premises.

Speaker Rahul Narvekar said he needs to take Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe into confidence while preparing guidelines for members’ conduct at the legislature and in the House. Narvekar urged the Opposition members to allow the Question Hour to proceed.

As the House assembled for the day, Congress’ Ashok Chavan raised the issue. He was supported by Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, Congress legislator Balasaheb Thorat and many more members.

Lawmakers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena had on Thursday hit the poster of Gandhi with footwear on the stairs of the legislature complex here for his alleged remarks against Savarkar. Gandhi has been repeatedly targeting Savarkar, they said. During the Maharashtra leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra in November last year, Gandhi had allegedly claimed that the Hindutva ideologue helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear.

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Thorat called the incident of slapping Gandhi's poster with footwear unfortunate. “You should remember that it has happened during your tenure and the decision you give will have a far-reaching impact on legislature proceedings,” Thorat said, asserting that he expects the chair to be unbiased.

Nationalist Congress Party member Jayant Patil asked the Speaker to adjourn the House proceedings and give his ruling after consulting the deputy chairperson of the Upper House. When Narvekar told the Opposition that sporting black bands in the House was not in accordance with legislative norms, Patil said it was a sign of their protest. He then said they were walking out in protest.

On Friday, the Congress had demanded that the treasury bench members who hit Gandhi’s poster with footwear be suspended from the House. Responding to the demand, Speaker Narvekar said he had sought a report on the developments in the legislature complex and would also get the video footage of the incident.

Earlier on Saturday, which is the last day of the ongoing Budget Session, Ashok Chavan lamented that a resolution to mark the 75th anniversary of the Marathwada Mukti Sangram (Marathwada Liberation Day) was not taken up despite being discussed by the business advisory committee. BJP’s Haribhau Bagade supported Chavan on this. Congress’ Nana Patole demanded a special session of the legislature to mark the occasion.

Chavan said the 75th-year celebrations began in September last year and nearly three months have passed in the new year. Still, there is no resolution in the legislature to mark the occasion and pay homage to the freedom fighters, he said. Narvekar said he would convene a meeting of all group leaders before the Monsoon Session and a resolution will be moved in the first week of the next session. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said a Cabinet sub-committee has been formed to plan and arrange the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Marathwada Mukti Sangram.

The Marathwada Mukti Sangram is celebrated on September 17 to mark the anniversary of Marathwada’s integration with India when the Indian Army liberated the state of Hyderabad and defeated the Nizam on September 17 1948, thirteen months after India got independence.