Pandemonium erupted in Maharashtra Legislative Council today when the Congress and NCP members pressed the government to elect the LoP besides raising the issues of farmers' suicide and drought-like situation in the state, leading to repeated adjournments of the House
Nagpur: Pandemonium erupted in Maharashtra Legislative Council today when the Congress and NCP members pressed the government to elect the LoP besides raising the issues of farmers' suicide and drought-like situation in the state, leading to repeated adjournments of the House.
Three days into the winter session of the State Legislature, the name of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) is yet to be finalised, said Jayant Patil of SKP (Shetkari Kamgar Paksha) raising the issue soon after the House proceedings began.
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"The Council is functioning without a LoP. This is the first time that such a thing is happening.It's a wrong tradition," he said. Patil was supported by Congress and NCP members, who demanded to know when the LoP shall be named.
Soon, Deputy Chairperson Vasantrao Davkhare said the matter was under the jurisdiction of the Chairperson and the name of Opposition leader shall be declared in 1-2 days. Unsatisfied with the reply, NCP's Hemant Takle demanded that the LoP be named immediately, leading to noisy scenes in the Houses.
Also, under a point of information, Sunil Tatkare of NCP sought to know on what basis the name of Leader of Opposition is going to be finalised. "We have submitted our claim for naming Dhananjay Munde as the Leader of Opposition," he said. Manikrao Thakre of Congress said his party too has staked claim for the LoP post.
Congress' Jogendra Kawade said the NCP first needs to clear its position over the LoP issue. "Initially, they were with the government and now they are in Opposition. Clear your stand," he said to which Chairperson Shivajirao Deshmukh said he has received letters from Manikrao Thakre and Dhanajay Munde staking claim to the post.
Earlier, the Council saw repeated adjournments amid din on absence of ministers, and debate over drought as well as farmers' issues. Bhai Jagtap of Congress raised the issue of absence of ministers in the Council where as Sunil Tatkare of NCP pointed out that there were no senior officers from the Secretariat and demanded an apology from the government.
On this, Minister Diwakar Raote said he was taking note of the proceedings. But Opposition members were not happy with the reply and began slogan shouting and entered the Well of the House. Following this, Davkhare adjourned the House for 10 minutes. When the House assembled again, the same issue was raised again.
Ekanath Khadse alleged that the Opposition was trying to disturb the House on very simple issues. Before noon, the Chairperson adjourned the House twice initially for 15 minutes and then till 12 as the Opposition continued its protests on the farmer issues when the proceedings resumed.
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