BJP members were carrying placards regarding aid to distressed farmers when a Sena leader tried to snatch it away resulting in the brawl
BJP members with banners carrying a report published earlier in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna' demanding Rs 25,000 per hectare aid for farmers hit by untimely rain
The tussle between the BJP and Shiv Sena took an ugly turn on Tuesday in Maharashtra Assembly when its members came down to exchanging blows before they were stopped by some colleagues. Party members fought over the demand for offering relief to distressed farmers. The house was adjourned and resumed work only to warn the unruly members who escaped suspension because of off-the-house reconciliation between the parties.
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The incident took place when the BJP members displayed banners carrying a report published earlier in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' demanding R25,000 per hectare aid for farmers hit by untimely rains. Sena's Sanjay Raimulkar tried to snatch the banner away from BJP member Abhimanyu Pawar when the treasury bench members went dangerously close to the CM who was seated in the front row. Sena's Nitin Deshmukh and BJP's Harish Pimple scuffled while Pawar too was caught in the melee. Sena's senior member Bhaskar Jadhav and BJP's Ashish Shelar intervened and separated the MLAs. Following the ensuing ruckus, Speaker Nana Patole adjourned the house for 30 minutes and returned to warn the members that whoever indulged in such behaviour would be dealt with strictly.
Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the caution and assured the house of maintaining decorum in the house but also demanded that the ruling party members should also be reprimanded in a similar way.
The house was adjourned till Wednesday after introducing some bills in the ruckus.Will deliver, says CM.
CM Uddhav Thackeray slammed the BJP for disturbing the decorum of the house. "Today the people who say that they don't read Saamna have displayed the news from the same paper. But they should know that I have approached the distressed farmers to understand their problems and even protested in the streets. In fact, the Centre hasn't given the state the due assistance. We came to power by promising relief to the farmers. We will not break the promise," he said.
Finance minister Jayant Patil said that instead of raising slogans and stalling the proceedings, the BJP should accompany the government representatives to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister to seek adequate assistance. "Why didn't you help when you were the government? When did unseasonal rains cause crop damage? It was when you were in power. The Centre is your government. Come with us (to Delhi) and help serve the people," he said.
The upper house too was adjourned over the same issue, but it did not see any untoward incident except for a heated debate.
Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis responded to the Sena leaders saying unseasonal rain had caused great distress to farmers.
"CM Uddhav Thackeray had himself demanded an assistance of R25,000 per hectare be given. If so, then, why has his government not announced the relief? When Thackeray was with us in the government, he would keep his word. We expect him to not break the promise," the former CM said.
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