NCP’s Jayant Patil suspended from Maharashtra Assembly

The Thackeray-led Sena wanted Jayant Patil to speak but he was not allowed. Pic/Rane Ashish

State Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and MLA, Jayant Patil, was suspended from the Assembly till the end of the winter session of the legislature being held in Nagpur, on Thursday. The disciplinary action came after Patil was found to have used unparliamentary words against Speaker Rahul Narvekar while the house was embroiled in a ruckus over the demand for a special investigation team in the death of celebrity manager Disha Salian.

Deputy Chief Minister and in-charge of the Home Department, Devendra Fadnavis, announced a probe by SIT following several adjournments on Thursday in the lower house. Narvekar allowed Opposition leader Ajit Pawar to speak after Fadnavis. However, the opposition parties demanded that more MLAs from the MVA parties be allowed to speak.

The Thackeray-led Sena wanted Bhaskar Jadhav to be allowed to speak and some members demanded that Jayant Patil also be permitted to speak. However, the plea did not work and tempers ran high. Patil was then heard saying something that was objected to by the treasury benches and Narvekar told Patil that he did not expect it from him. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was present in the house, too was seen agitated.

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The house was adjourned in phases for about 90 minutes before Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandrakant Patil tabled a resolution to suspend Jayant Patil for the remaining period of the winter session. The resolution was passed with a majority vote.

In response, Opposition leader Ajit Pawar told the house that such incidents happened inadvertently, but the aftereffects were realised later. "I express regrets on my party state president's behalf. We tried our best to convince the government to find a way out through this, but it's your prerogative (to take action). In the house, we only demanded to allow Bhaskar Jadhav to speak," he said.

Pawar said he did not clarify to request the government to withdraw the suspension, but to ensure a new beginning. "We respect the chair and will continue to do so in future as well. But we request that the opposition also be given some time to air their views in the house," he added, before asking MVA members to walk out in protest.