Mumbai: The disgruntled members of the BJP on Tuesday constituted a counter house at the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan and agitated against the suspension of 12 of its MLAs during the monsoon session of Maharashtra Assembly. Ruling members strongly objected to the counter house and said such a parallel house on the stairs of the Assembly is a contempt of the house.
Following this, presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav ordered the security officers to seize the mic system. Minister Nawab Malik also objected to the live broadcasting of the counter house. After this, the leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis discussed the violation of the freedom of the press, but BJP's counter house remained operational outside the gate of the Assembly.
12 MLAs suspended on Day 1
Twelve BJP MLAs have been suspended for one year from the Maharashtra Assembly for misbehaving with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the Speaker's chamber. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Parab put the motion to suspend the MLAs and passed by a voice vote. The 12 MLAs moved to the Governor after the suspension and handed over a memorandum to him over the issue. They demanded the Governor to seek a report on suspension and make a decision on it. The suspended members 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.
Read:|Maharashtra: 12 suspended BJP MLAs meet Guv seeking his intervention
9 bills passed in two days
The session continued for a total of 10 hours and 10 minutes. Nearly 12 bills were tabled in two days. Of these, nine bills were passed while three were put for public opinion. In two days, a total of four resolutions, mourning proposals and supplementary demands were discussed. The next session of the Legislature will be held on December 7, 2021.
Privilege notices against Arnab Goswami, Kangana
Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday extended time for the privileges committee to submit its report on the breach of privilege notices against journalist Arnab Goswami and actor Kangana Ranaut on the last day of the next legislative session. Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik had submitted the breach of privilege notices against Goswami and Ranaut to the office of the state Assembly Speaker on September 7 last year. On Tuesday, the motion to extend the time frame was moved by Deepak Kesarkar (Shiv Sena), who heads the privileges committee, and was approved by a voice vote in the House.
High-level probe into phone-tapping issue
Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil announced a high-level inquiry into the allegation of Congress state president Nana Patole that his phone was tapped during the previous BJP-led state government. Earlier this year, Patole alleged that along with his phone, the phones of several important leaders of NCP, BJP, Shiv Sena as well as those of IAS and IPS officers were also tapped in 2016-17 during the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government. He demanded a high-level probe into the matter. Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil sought to know how many legislators were under surveillance.
Read:|BJP starts parallel session outside Maharashtra Assembly in protest against MLAs' suspension
Resolution seeking 3 cr Covid vaccine from Centre passed
A resolution urging the Centre to provide a minimum of three crore COVID-19 vaccine doses per month to the state to reduce the impact of a possible third wave of the viral infection was also passed in the Assembly on Tuesday. Health Minister Rajesh Tope moved the resolution in the House and said that the state machinery was well equipped to vaccinate 10 lakh people per day, provided the doses were available.
Read:|Maha govt announces high-level probe into Cong leader Patole's phone-tapping allegation
