MUMBAI: Senior Shiv Sena (UBT) Bhaskar Jadhav created a sensation in the state assembly on Wednesday by stating that a Marathi newspaper had made allegations that a ruling party MLA offered to pay the office staff of Speaker Rahul Narwekar, to have his calling attention motion taken up.
This is a question raised in the state assembly to draw a minister’s attention to an important issue and request a statement from him. While MLAs submit a long list, it is the Speaker’s prerogative to decide which ones to prioritise and how many to take up on a given day.
Bhaskar also said the article alleged that while assembly passes to visitors were restricted, people were paying Rs 10,000 via Gpay to get in.
“According to the newspaper, yesterday a ruling party MLA asked the Speaker’s office staff – ‘how much money do you want for the calling attention motion? Put mine up,” alleged Jadhav.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar responded and said the remarks should be removed from the proceedings. “This issue should not be raised here. It should be raised privately in the Speaker’s office or with the Chief Minister,” he said.
He also said that Narwekar should take note of the allegations. “We do not support this. Is there any proof? The guilty should be traced and an FIR should be lodged,” said Pawar.
Meanwhile, Narwekar said, “I have taken note of this. Jadhav is a senior leader and my expectation is that he should have brought this issue to the Speaker’s chamber and not raised it in the assembly.”
BJP MLA Abhimanyu Pawar defended Narwekar, saying, “As a Speaker, you have taken up the largest number of calling attention motions. In fact it is the MLAs who pressure you into taking these up.”
BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar said, “I have been the presiding officer of the state assembly. I found that the MLAs who criticise the number of calling attention motions that are taken up, later send chits asking for the one they have raised to be discussed.”
The BJP’s Atul Bhatkalkar said that a breach of privilege motion should be considered against the newspaper for casting aspersions on the functioning of the state assembly.
Meanwhile, Jadhav clarified, “I have not named the Speaker. I have merely mentioned the allegations made by the newspaper.”
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said, “This is a very serious issue and there should be a detailed inquiry.”
During the assembly session, several MLAs including the NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil criticised the large number of calling attention motions listed for discussion on a daily basis by Narwekar. “There are so many of these listed that there is not enough time available for MLAs to give their views on the state budget,” he had said.
MUMBAI: Senior Shiv Sena (UBT) Bhaskar Jadhav created a sensation in the state assembly on Wednesday by stating that a Marathi newspaper had made allegations that a ruling party MLA offered to pay the office staff of Speaker Rahul Narwekar, to have his calling attention motion taken up.
This is a question raised in the state assembly to draw a minister’s attention to an important issue and request a statement from him. While MLAs submit a long list, it is the Speaker’s prerogative to decide which ones to prioritise and how many to take up on a given day.
Bhaskar also said the article alleged that while assembly passes to visitors were restricted, people were paying Rs 10,000 via Gpay to get in.
“According to the newspaper, yesterday a ruling party MLA asked the Speaker’s office staff – ‘how much money do you want for the calling attention motion? Put mine up,” alleged Jadhav.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar responded and said the remarks should be removed from the proceedings. “This issue should not be raised here. It should be raised privately in the Speaker’s office or with the Chief Minister,” he said.
He also said that Narwekar should take note of the allegations. “We do not support this. Is there any proof? The guilty should be traced and an FIR should be lodged,” said Pawar.
Meanwhile, Narwekar said, “I have taken note of this. Jadhav is a senior leader and my expectation is that he should have brought this issue to the Speaker’s chamber and not raised it in the assembly.”
BJP MLA Abhimanyu Pawar defended Narwekar, saying, “As a Speaker, you have taken up the largest number of calling attention motions. In fact it is the MLAs who pressure you into taking these up.”
BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar said, “I have been the presiding officer of the state assembly. I found that the MLAs who criticise the number of calling attention motions that are taken up, later send chits asking for the one they have raised to be discussed.”
The BJP’s Atul Bhatkalkar said that a breach of privilege motion should be considered against the newspaper for casting aspersions on the functioning of the state assembly.
Meanwhile, Jadhav clarified, “I have not named the Speaker. I have merely mentioned the allegations made by the newspaper.”
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said, “This is a very serious issue and there should be a detailed inquiry.”
During the assembly session, several MLAs including the NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil criticised the large number of calling attention motions listed for discussion on a daily basis by Narwekar. “There are so many of these listed that there is not enough time available for MLAs to give their views on the state budget,” he had said.