Dharmendra Jore: Setting the house in order

Does a yearlong suspension suffice to punish a public representative a member of the elders house of the Maharashtra Legislature for saying that army wives are unfaithful to their husbands Not many of the angry public think so after the upper house scrapped the sentence last WednesdayA probe committee of the house recommended that the accused MLA Prashant Paricharak be allowed to work in the ongoing budget session The decision set political circles afire The Opposition and the Shiv Sena want Paricharak to stay suspended till his sixyear term ends The ruling party is blamed for pushing the rescue button for the independent MLC Paricharaks fate will be decided on Monday when the house takes up the issue yet againLast summer Paricharak shamed the elders house which is supposed to be a gathering of highly sensible immensely articulate and propeople policy makers not only from political parties but also from various walks of life The MLCs behaviour did reaffirm a belief that the upper house needs an overhaulGone are the days when even a pauper in the sociopolitical sphere would be sent to the Legislative Council In the past two decades the constitution of the house has changed drastically Parties have representatives that set themselves apart from predecessors for all wrong reasons These days grabbing a Council seat is easier than reaching out to the public for seeking votes The vote banks of the Assembly members local selfgovernments teachers and graduates are much in demand And if these options exhaust then the government can use its discretion to nominate persons of eminence in public life to the upper houseThe likes of Paricharak who managed a backdoor entry to the legislature as an independent candidate speak for themselves as far as their winning might is concerned Their utterances mar a glorious tradition of the house Incidents such as these also bring forth the arrogant side of politicians persona that makes them think that they can get away with anything Recently the BJP sacked its deputy mayor from Ahmednagar for passing derogatory remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj So many others directly elected or indirectly elected parliamentarians and members of legislatures grab the headlines for making unsavoury statements Not all are punished Most apologise or say that they were misinterpretedWill he wont heLast Wednesday the resolution to free Paricharak came up amidst the din in the house and got prompt approval without the members getting an opportunity to express their stand over the issue Last March the members had demanded Paricharaks termination from the house Instead of termination from the membership the MLC was suspended on March 9 for 18 months A probe committee was constituted to look into the charges against him The majority of the house has questioned the committee of seniors ndash the council chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar Narayan Rane Dhananjay Munde Sunil Tatkare Sharad Ranpise Neelam Gorhe Bhai Girkar Kapil Patil and Jayant Patil for recommending the revocation of suspension and wants the BJP government to say why it accepted the proposalFollowing Sena chief Uddhav Thackerays directives party members created a ruckus on Thursday in the house seeking a review The house will take up the issue on Monday Sources said the Sena members have been waiting for Paricharak to be seen on the Vidhan Bhavan premises so that they can treat him in their own styleSentiments not technicalityThe controversy refuses to die down thanks to a compassionate view taken by the probe committee which said that the records from the Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha and other state assemblies were considered while revoking suspension The committee said that the MLC had apologised and assured to not repeat such an act Technicality of Parliamentary laws supports Paricharak because the incident did not occur in the house or on the Vidhan Bhavan premises However most members feel that sentiments count more than technicalitiesAccording to the opposition and Sena Paricharak the independent MLC is backed by the BJP which has been rejecting the affiliation ever since the legislator courted controversy last year It was at a ZP election rally at Pandharpur last year that Paricharak had said that soldiers distribute sweets at the border after having babies when they have not even come home for a whole yearThe budget session was disrupted for four days last year demanding action against Paricharak The BJP hasnt said much possibly because it sees embarrassment coming Since the ruling party doesnt have a majority in the upper house it may have to go with the popular sentiment for extending suspension Termination of membership could be an option as well but nobody is sure if the law allows it Lets see how strong a punishment is handed to ParicharakDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajore Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on 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