Opposition boycott of House to continue

Mumbai: The boycott on House proceedings by united opposition parties protesting the decision to suspend MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly will likely continue even in the last week of the budget session.

As the Speaker has not revoked the suspension of all MLAs, opposition parties are in no mood to participate in the House. Of the 19 MLAs who were suspended for causing a ruckus during the budget speech, only nine have been cleared from suspension. Looking at the Opposition’s aggressive stand, the government is likely to withdraw suspension on the last day of the session.

Assembly speaker Haribhau Bagade suspended 19 MLAs of Congress and NCP for causing an uproar during the state budget speech by finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on March 18. The MLAs were demanding waiving off of farmers’ loans. On February 22, parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat proposed a resolution to suspend the 19 MLAs. Ten members of NCP and nine of Congress were immediately suspended from the House.

As a mark of protest, opposition parties decided to boycott House proceedings. For the next three days, opposition members sat on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan but the government refused to revoke action. Even Shiv Sena leaders met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to request cancellation of the suspension but the government did not bow down to pressure.

As a reply to the government’s aggressive stand, opposition leaders decided to hit the roads. They launched a week-long Sangharsh Yatra for the farmer loan waiver issue. The yatra went to 17 districts of four regions of the state and got a good response in rural areas. The government then revoked the suspension of nine MLAs on April 1, keeping the remaining 10 MLAs suspended.