Mumbai: The Opposition members Monday stalled the proceedings on the first day of the second week of the winter session in both Houses over the issue of reservation for the Maratha and Dhangar communities.
As the opposition continued its uproar, the proceedings of the state Legislative Assembly were adjourned for as many as four times before being adjourned for the day. The state Legislative Council was also adjourned due to noisy scenes over the same issue.
As regular proceedings started, the opposition members demanded aggressively that the TISS report on Dhangar reservation and the backward class commission report on Maratha reservation be tabled in the house. The Leader of the Opposition Radhakri-shan Vikhe-Patil and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, along with others, sat in the well, raising slogans and protesting.
NCP MLA Jayant Patil said, “Why is the state government dragging its feet on tabling the report on the reservation issue? In case of Maratha reservation, the report is not being tabled for fear of it being challenged in cou-rt. It means that there are loopholes in the report.”
During the opposition’s protest, the ruling benches passed supplementary demands worth '6,000 crore. Objecting to this, the opposition members demanded that the state government file the report first in the house and then hold a discussion on supplementary demands.
Revenue minister Chandrakant Patil said that the chief minister had already made his stand clear on the reservation issue. But the opposition members stayed firm on their demand of tabling the report in the house.
As their sloganeering continued, assembly chairman Haribhau Bagde adjourned the assembly four times. Amidst the pandemonium, five bills were also passed. The house was finally adjourned for the day by acting chairman Subhash Sabne.
In the Legislative Coun-cil too, the opposition members demanded agg-ressively that the state government immediately provide aid to drought-affected farmers and res-ervation to the Maratha, Dhangar and Muslim communities.
