Ruling MLAs stall assembly over drought

It was an embarrassing situation for the state government on Wednesday when the legislators from the ruling parties created an uproar over the drought crisis and stalled the proceedings of the legislative Assembly. During the debate on the drought crisis for the second day, the members of the Congress strongly demanded immediate intervention of the government to end the hunger strike of Congress MLA Kailash Gorantyal from Jalna. They even stalled the proceedings for some time. Demanding adequate water supply for his district, Mr Gorantyal is on a hunger strike for the fifth consecutive day against his own government. Jalna is one of the districts worst-affected by drought in the state. Raising the demand, Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar said, “One of our legislators is sitting on a hunger strike. The government should take immediate steps to end the fast, else we will not allow to the House to function.” Along with Mr Wadettiwar other MLAs from Congress Aslam Shaikh and Sunil Kedar rushed to the well and demanded immediate intervention. Deputy speaker Va-sant Purke adjourned the House for ten minutes following the uproar. Later, when the proceeding began again, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar assured the House that the water problem in Mr Gorantyal’s constituency would be addressed soon. He also said that disconnected power supply of the area would be restored.