Uproarious scenes were today witnessed in the the Maharashtra Assembly which was adjourned for the day after the Opposition stalled the proceedings accusing the government of failing to effectively tackle the severe drought-like situation in the state and demanding complete loan waiver for affected farmers.
Finding the opposition in no mood to relent after it had forced two adjournments till noon, Speaker Haribhau Bagde adjourned the House for the day.
When the House assembled again after the second adjournment in which the stipulated Question Hour was lost, there was no improvement in the situation as Opposition members stormed the Well of the House shouting slogans, holding placards and throwing pieces of paper in the air.
Amid the din, the Speaker hurriedly transacted the House business and tabled Ordinances before finally adjourning it for the day even as Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Congress) and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal grilled the ruling alliance over various issues including farmers' plight.
The Speaker postponed the Calling attention motions, discussions under rule 293 moved by Sambhaji Patil Nilengekar and 24 others on untimely rains in February-March this year; crop losses and drought in other parts as well as half-and-hour discussion on four-laning of Pune city roads.
Earlier, when the House met for the day, Opposition accused the Maharashtra government of "inept handling" of the drought situation and ignoring plight of farmers and disrupted the proceedings during Question Hour, prompting the Speaker to adjourn the House--first for ten minutes and then for 27 minutes till noon.
Raising the issue, Vikhe Patil raised urged the Speaker to take up their notice under rule 57 to suspend the Question Hour and take up urgent discussion on two serious issues of drought and loan waiver, which the Speaker denied initially.
As the Speaker stood firm on his decision, Opposition members stormed into the well of the House forcing him to adjourn the House for a short while.
When the House got together again, there was no let up in the demands of the Opposition. Besides Vikhe Patil, Jayant Patil of NCP and others too raised the issue.
From the treasury benches, Revenue Minister Eknath
Khadse urged the Speaker to suspend the Question Hour and take up the issue and expressed willingness to discuss it threadbare.
Amid the commotion, Speaker adjourned the House till noon for the second time.
Before the commencement of the day's proceedings, Congress members raised slogans against the government. Former Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan, Vikhe Patil, Vijay Wadettiwar and others led the protests.
They were joined by NCP members led by former Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar and others.
(REOPENS BOM 4)
Meanwhile, the Legislative Council was also adjourned for the day after two adjournments.
The House witnessed uproarious scenes on the issue of farmer suicides and drought in the state as opposition members walked to the Well of the House and raised slogans.
Soon after the House assembled, Leader of opposition Dhananjay Munde submitted an application to the chairperson for discussion on farmers' issue under adjournment motion section 289 and demanded debate.
Manikrao Thakre of Congress also demanded a debate on the same issue under section 289 and submitted an application.
Thakre demanded that the government should announce a compensation of Rs 25,000 for cotton, 20,000 for paddy and 15,000 for soyabean farmers.
To the Opposition's demand, Leader of the House, Eknath Khadse said the "government is ready for any type of discussion". But in between the opposition members gathered to the Well and started berating the government.
Opposition demanded a concrete solution to farmers' plight and drought conditions in the state.
Amid the din, Chairperson Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar adjourned the house for 30 minutes.
When the House reassembled, opposition members stuck to their demand and continued to raise slogans.
Deputy chairperson Vasantrao Dawkhare, however, tried to pacify the opposition members, but they did not relent and continued sloganeering, disrupting the House.
The House was adjourned for the second time. When the House reassembled for the third time, Chairperson Nimbalkar announced his decision on the demand of the opposition and said both the applications were accepted and a discussion will be held as per schedule during the session.
With the opposition showing no signs of yielding,, Khadse tabled some important bills before the House but the House was adjourned by the chairperson for the entire day.
