Aney made the statement in Jalna on Sunday. Upset Sena ministers said they would boycott cabinet meetings if action was not taken against Aney.
After being cornered by the Opposition and its ruling ally Shiv Sena in the legislative assembly over advocate general Shrihari Aney's statements calling for statehood for Marathwada, the BJP-led state government sought to distance itself from the remarks and said it was contemplating action against him. These parties had called for Aney to be removed from his post.
Aney made the statement in Jalna on Sunday. Upset Sena ministers said they would boycott cabinet meetings if action was not taken against Aney. He has found himself in Sena's cross-hairs in the past over his demand for statehood for Vidarbha. While the Sena supports the cause of a unified Maharashtra, the BJP, which favours smaller states, wants Vidarbha to be granted statehood.
Senior BJP ministers admitted that Aney's statements had put them in a spot.
The issue found a resonance as the assembly convened on Monday, with leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Congress) moving an adjournment motion and demanding that Aney be terminated. Vikhe Patil was supported by members from the NCP, the Sena and the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), and the resultant pandemonium forced repeated adjournments.
"The government does not agree with Aney's position. The state is not considering the separation of Marathwada and Khandesh," revenue minister Eknath Khadse told the House later. "The government will take necessary action (against Aney for this statement)," he added, stating that they did not agree with carving out Vidarbha.
Khadse said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis would make a statement on this issue on Tuesday.
Earlier, warning that they would move a breach of privilege motion against Aney, Sena's Pratap Sarnaik had pointed to how the House had suspended AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan for not saying Bharat Mata ki Jai. He questioned why "one rule was being applied to public representatives and another for a state government appointee".
Veteran legislator Ganpatrao Deshmukh of the PWP noted that the advocate general was appointed by the state government for seeking legal advice, but instead, Aney was calling for the vivisection of Maharashtra. "If he wants to propagate that stance, he must resign immediately," he demanded, stressing that if Aney did not put in his papers, the assembly could request the governor to seek his clarification and sack him.
Pointing out that this was the second time that Aney was taking such a position, Dilip Valse Patil (NCP- Ambegaon) said tolerating views which "instigated people, provoking them" was unacceptable. He called this a "warning bell" as similar demands for separating sub-regions, like Western Maharashtra, and even turning Mumbai into a union territory could be made.
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