Maharashtra speaker suspends 19 opposition MLAs till Dec 31 for burning budget papers, unruly behaviour

Maharashtra assembly speaker Haribhau Bagade issued suspension orders for 19 opposition MLAs from the Congress and the NCP till Dec 31, 2017 in connection with the uproar in the House during the budget presentation. The MLAs are accused of burning the budget papers and unruly behaviour.

The suspension order came after a resolution to this effect was moved by parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat and it was adopted by the assembly. 

The Opposition members had disrupted the Budget presentation by finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in the assembly on March 18 demanding farm loan waiver. Bapat said the opposition MLAs had conducted themselves in a "disgraceful and unconstitutional manner".

Read | Maharashtra Assembly adjourned thrice as stand-off continues over farmers’ loan waiver issue 

He said everybody had the right to express themselves but setting the state budget copy on fire outside the House had never happened. The members were being suspended for displaying banners, playing cymbals, shouting slogans and disrespecting the speaker's directions, he added. 

The MLAs suspended are Amar Kale, Vijay Waddetiwar, Harshwardhan Sakpal, Abdul Sattar, DP Sawant, Sangram Thopte, Amit Zanak, Kunal Patil, Jaikumar Gore (all from Congress) besides Bhaskar Jadhav, Jitendra Awhad, Madhusudan Kendre, Sangram Jagtap, Avdhut Tatkare, Deepak Chavan, Datta Bharne, Narhari Jirval, Vaibhav Pichad and Rahul Jagtap from the NCP. Leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the government can suspend all the opposition MLAs but they will continue to raise farmers' issues. 

(With inputs from agencies)