19 Maharashtra MLAs suspended for 'insulting the house'

The speaker held that they had insulted the sovereign legislature by burning copies of the budget, creating a ruckus and disrespecting the speaker's authority.

Ten legislators of the Congress and 9 MLAs from the Nationalist Congress Party were suspended on Wednesday morning by the Maharashtra assembly speaker. Haribhau Bagde suspended 19 lawmakers from the INC and NCP till December 31, accusing them of insulting the house.

The legislators had burnt copies of the state budget presented on March 18 over loan waiver to farmers. The speaker held that they had insulted the sovereign legislature by burning copies of the budget, creating a ruckus and disrespecting the speaker's authority during the presentation of the state budget.

The suspension came after Maharashtra's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat, moved a resolution on Wednesday morning as soon as proceedings in the house began. He recommended that the 19 MLAs be suspended and the same was accepted by the speaker. Leader of the opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil staged a walkout following the suspension calling the move unprecedented.

Maharashtra's finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, who defended the speaker's actions reminded the Congress and the NCP that their governments had taken similar action against opposition leaders three years ago. "The suspension has been recommended well within the constitutional norms and to maintain the dignity of the house. The suspension can't be called unprecedented since they had taken similar action earlier," Mungantiwar said.

OneIndia News