Mumbai: Maharashtra MLAs, in an uncharacteristic display of protest, were seen pushing and heckling adversaries on the staircase of the assembly Wednesday – the fifth day of the Monsoon Session.
Normally, Opposition MLAs protest on the stairs of the Vidhan Bhawan before the start of a session.
But on Wednesday, the new ruling coalition turned the tables and began raising slogans against the “misrule and corruption” of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The MVA comprised the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.
The present government in Maharashtra is the two-month old alliance between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena and the BJP. Shinde left party chief Uddhav Thackeray with a majority of MLAs at the end of July and formed the governing partnership with the BJP.
On Wednesday morning, ruling MLAs taunted MVA leaders about the “corruption” of jailed NCP leaders Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, and even badmouthed Matoshree (the residence of the Thackerays).
Faced with such aggression, the Opposition was quick to reply, shouting about the alleged money they must have accepted to switch camps to the BJP.
NCP MLA Anil Patil then waved a string of carrots, mocking the new government’s policies towards farmers. He accused the government of luring farmers with false promises.
Eknath Shinde’s camp MLA Bharat Gogavale and Pratap Sarnaik then came charging at the Opposition. NCP MLAs Rohit Pawar and Amol Mitkari stood ground and members then pushed each other around.
Bharat Gogavale, who is also the chief whip of Shinde camp, told the media, “We were protesting on the staircase of the Maharashtra assembly against corruption of the MVA government. The Opposition came up while we were still protesting. They should have waited their turn. This is just a trailer, the picture is still awaited. Who are they to push us? We were the ones to push them.”
MLAs fighting on the assembly staircase, where leaders take questions, is a rare occurrence, leaders said.
Some pointed out that the behaviour of NCP members was unexpected, “more so since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised their MPs for always respecting Parliament”.
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