The Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Assembly began on Monday with a notable disparity in attendance among the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs as only 15 MLAs, including nine Ministers, belonging to the breakaway group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, were in the House. While nine MLAs, including NCP State president Jayant Patil and Rohit Pawar, from the Sharad Pawar camp were seated on the Opposition side.
Mr. Ajit Pawar’s camp claims that it has the support of more than 40 NCP MLAs out of 53. However, the absence of as many as 27 from both factions on the first day of the session raised questions. One NCP MLA, Nawab Malik, is currently under judicial custody in connection with an alleged money laundering case.
Out of the 25 NCP MLAs who attended the session, Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Ajit Pawar, Cabinet Ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode, Dhananjay Munde, Anil Patil and Dharmarao Atram were seated on the ruling side. They were introduced to the House by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The Assembly adjourned after commencing for an hour on the first day.
Walkout by Opposition
Meanwhile, in the Legislative Council, Opposition parties staged a walkout demanding the removal of Neelam Gorhe from the post of Deputy Speaker, following her recent move to switch over from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) to the rival Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Sena.
“Since Ms. Gorhe has been suspended by our party, she does not have the right to remain the Council’s Deputy Chairperson,” Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, said.
The Opposition parties’ demand to move a disqualification motion against Ms. Gorhe was turned down by her,
Reacting to their demands, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said “One cannot take action against the Deputy Chairperson of the Council.”
Later, Opposition leaders — Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar camp) and Shiv Sena (UBT) — met Governor Ramesh Bais demanding her dismissal.
Earlier in the day, the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) legislators assembled on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan and raised slogans against the State government, accusing it of indulging in corruption.
