Mahayuti, MVA clash in council over Rahul’s statement in LS

Leader of the opposition in the council Ambadas Danve and BJP MLC Prasad Lad challenged each other during the heated argument, and BJP members charged Danve with using abusive language

MUMBAI: Ruling Mahayuti and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi members of the legislative council engaged in an unprecedented verbal clash on Monday over a statement by Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. Leader of the opposition in the council Ambadas Danve and BJP MLC Prasad Lad challenged each other during the heated argument, and BJP members charged Danve with using abusive language. Deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe then adjourned the House for the day.

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The commotion began when Lad raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s alleged statement on the Hindu community in the Lok Sabha. Opposition MVA members objected to it and in the ensuing ruckus, the house was adjourned twice.

When things resumed after the second adjournment, Lad asked for a resolution condemning Gandhi to be moved. As BJP members shouted slogans again, Danve stood up and objected to the demand. “Whatever statement the ruling party has mentioned was made in the Lok Sabha and there is no need to act on it in the legislative council,” he said.

When Lad continued to speak, pointing at Danve, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader asked him to refrain from doing so and address the speaker’s chair instead. Lad replied that he would continue to point, and a verbal clash ensued between the two. Danve then stepped away from his seat and warned Lad again. During this heated debate, BJP MLC Praveen Darekar alleged that Danve had used abusive language.

After the brawl, deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe warned that unparliamentary words would not be tolerated in the council and also told Prasad Lad that his behaviour was unacceptable. Amid slogan-shouting from both sides, she then adjourned the house for the day. Later, while speaking to the media, Lad and Darekar declared that Danve, by using abusive language in the House, had lowered the dignity of the leader of the opposition’s post and should be removed from it.

While replying to the allegation of abusive language, Danve said that he had merely shown the ruling party the aggression of a “real Shiv Sainik” and had no regrets about it. “Prasad Lad raised the issue of a statement given by Rahul Gandhi, and ruling party members tried to bring in a resolution to condemn it,” he said. “I said that there was no need to act on what happened in the Lok Sabha. At that point, Lad was pointing out to me, making weird gestures with his hands. I told him not to do that and a fight ensued.”

Danve added that being a “real Shiv Sainik” of Bal Thackeray, he did not need to learn Hindutva from a person like Prasad Lad. “I am a true Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb and am facing many cases for Hindutva,” he said. “People like Lad who have joined the BJP for monetary gains should not try to teach us Hindutva.”