The resolution for their suspension, moved by parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil, was adopted by a voice vote with Shiv Sena-BJP alliance members abstaining.
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly today suspended four MNS members for four years on charges of assaulting SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi, who took the oath in Hindi against their party leader Raj Thackeray's diktat, and misbehaving with a woman legislator.
The resolution for their suspension, moved by parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil, was adopted by a voice vote with Shiv Sena-BJP alliance members abstaining.
Patil described as "most condemnable" the conduct of the newly elected MNS MLAs -- Shishir Shinde, Ram Kadam, Ramesh Wanzale and Vasant Gite -- and said it was against the highest tradition of the House.
"This act had tarnished the image of the august House and hence amounts to breach of privilege," Patil said. MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar took objection to the resolution and said it was Azmi who had provoked his colleagues and demanded action against the SP leader.
Out of the four MNS MLAs, Ram Kadam and Shishir Shinde did not take oath. Earlier, Khadse sought clarification from the government on what he said "a riot-like" situation in Bhiwandi following the incident.
Home minister RR Patil informed the House that Samajwadi party workers had pelted the buses with stones in protest and that six of them had been arrested. "Nobody would be allowed to take law into their hands,” he asserted. BJP member Girish Bapat took oath in Sanskrit when Madhukar Pichad was chairing the proceedings.
However, when another BJP member Girish Mahajan started taking oath in Sanskrit, Pro tem Speaker Ganpat Deshmukh objected, saying as per article 210 of the constitution and Rule 22 of the Legislative assembly, a member can take oath in his mother tongue if he is not well-versed in Marathi, Hindi or English.
Bapat and some BJP members objected to Deshmukh’s ruling, saying that the chair was insulting Sanskrit and pointing out that they had always taken oath in Sanskrit. To this Deshmukh said the issue did not arise earlier because nobody had objected. “It is only now that the issue of which language a member should take oath in has come up,” he said.
When informed that earlier Madhukar Pichad had allowed Girish Bapat to take oath in Sanskrit, Deshmukh relented and also granted permission to Mahajan. Congress member Annie Shekhar struggled to read out her oath in Marathi and after she completed, she was applauded for her effort by the treasury Benches.
Congress member Amin Patel said he was comfortable speaking in Marathi and could have taken oath in the language, but was doing so in Hindi as a mark of protest against Azmi's assault.
Ramsingh Thakur of congress said he would take oath in both Hindi and Marathi but was disallowed. He then took oath in Hindi only.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}