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ShareMumbai: Even before the state Assembly has held its first session, a political debate -- on whether the business agenda of the Assembly can be made available in Hindi -- has started. Once Samajwadi Party state chief Abu Azmi made such a demand, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Bhartiya Janata Party asked him to rather move to Uttar Pradesh (UP).
"He should move to UP if he wants the use of Hindi in the Assembly. We will not tolerate this type of nautanki," Raj Thackeray said. The BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde echoed similar sentiments. Azmi had written to the principal secretary of the state legislature asking that the agenda of the house should be made available in Hindi. He had demanded that the English language be replaced by Hindi, as the latter is the national language.
The State Assembly officials stated that this is the first time that an MLA had made such a demand and that they were examining the rules. "The entire business of the State Assembly is followed in Marathi, the state language. We do translate letters and documents in English, but only in exceptional cases. No demand up till now had been made for the use of Hindi. The final decision will be taken only after a discussion with the speaker and the chairman of the legislature," said Anant Kalse, the principal secretary of the state legislature.
