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2 more Shiv Sena MLAs suspended

Swati Kulkarni in Bombay

Two more members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Prakash Khedekar and R M Wani, both from the Shiv Sena, were suspended for a year on Thursday for their acts of violence on Tuesday.

But the suspension of one member, Vinayak Raut, whose name was added to the list on Tuesday by mistake, has been revoked. This brings to 13 the number of Sena MLAs suspended, reducing the party's strength in the House to 60.

Announcing this, Legislative Affairs Minister Rohidas Patil said, "Wani broke the glass of the audio system control room while Khedekar slapped one of the security guards of Speaker Arun Gujarathi and prevented him from leaving the assembly."

The loss caused by the Sena members' acts of vandalism is estimated at Rs 300,000.

Meanwhile, the entire Opposition boycotted the proceedings in the assembly on Thursday to protest against the speaker's decision to suspend 14 MLAs in all.

Gopinath Munde, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the House, and Narayan Rane, leader of the Opposition, made brief appearances to argue against the suspensions, which they claimed were unjust. But Gujarathi told them that he would only entertain their questions during question hour.

Speaking to reporters, the two politicians later said, "We are asking for an apology, but the government is just not bothered. We will continue to boycott the assembly until our demands are met."

Both left the House and drove to Raj Bhavan to meet Governor P C Alexander and complain about the high-handed attitude of the Democratic Front government.

Rohidas Patil later informed the House that on August 12, 1964, Jambuvant Dhote, then an independent legislator, had thrown a paperweight at the speaker, for which act he was suspended from the House for five years. At this the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party MLAs roared that the 13 Shiv Sena MLAs must also be suspended for five years.

Friday is the last day of the monsoon session. This time the session has been very short, lasting just two weeks. The normal duration is at least three weeks.

The legislature will reconvene in Nagpur in December for the winter session.

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