E-Paper
MLAs ‘fight’ for farmers’ compensation
Legislators of the ruling Shiv Sena and ally-turned-foe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brawled in the well of the legislative Assembly in Maharashtra on Tuesday morning.
Legislators of the ruling Shiv Sena and ally-turned-foe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brawled in the well of the legislative Assembly in Maharashtra on Tuesday morning.
The legislators nearly came to blows on the issue of farmers after the BJP’s members of legislative assembly (MLAs) raised a large banner that had a printed copy of the front page of the Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana. It had a report on Thackeray saying that farmers affected by unseasonal rain must get a compensation of ₹25,000 per hectare.
The BJP took up the issue of farmers as soon as the Lower House convened in the morning and leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said his party had moved adjournment motion over compensation for farmers affected by unseasonal rain.
HT had reported earlier that the BJP would move its attention from Vinayak Damodar Savarkar to farmers to corner the government.
“The chief minister must keep his word of granting farmers a compensation of ₹25,000 per hectare. To meet this promise, the government needs ₹23,000 crore and all they have made provision for is ₹750 crore. Farmers need immediate relief,” said Fadnavis, indicating the BJP would
not allow any work to be conducted without a discussion on farmers.
When speaker Nana Patole refuted the motion, BJP legislators started sloganeering and moved into the well of the House.
As they started unfurling the Saamana banner, the speaker stopped them as he asked the names of legislators, who were doing it to be recorded. As the banner was unfurled, the Sena MLAs moved into the well and started shouting at their BJP counterparts.
Two MLAs – Nitin Deshmukh (Shiv Sena) Harish Pimpale (BJP) –both from Akola, nearly came to blows. Senior party leaders from both sides, BJP’s Ashish Shelar and Sena’s Bhaskar Jadhav, intervened to stop the situation from getting uglier.
After this, the House was adjourned for half-an-hour.
The Speaker deferred the calling-attention motion after the House reconvened.
“What happened today was unfortunate and maligns the legacy of the state. I want to censure all legislators involved in this scuffle that this will not be tolerated in the House again. Several of the MLAs are new so I am only censuring them now,” said Patole.
State finance minister Jayant Patil put the onus on the Centre and alleged that Fadnavis-led government had done nothing while it was in power during unseasonal rain in August, September and October.
“The reason you are sitting on the opposition benches is because everyone knows you didn’t stand by farmers. How much compensation did your government give? Despite having just come to power, we have cleared ₹6,600 crore for compensation, of which ₹2,200 crore has reached the collectors’ offices. We have demanded a total of ₹14,600 crore from the Centre,” said Patil.
In this din, the business of the day—clearing four bills—was then pushed through, amid sloganeering by the Opposition.
