Maharashtra Legislative Council suspends leader of opposition Ambadas Danve for 5 days over abuses

MUMBAI: The resolution for suspending leader of opposition (LoP) Ambadas Danve was put forth by parliamentary affairs minister Chandrakant Patil of BJP and suspension was formally announced by deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe after it was seconded by a majority of MLCs.
The council was adjourned twice on Tuesday morning as BJP MLCs said they would not let it run unless action was taken against Danve.
The council on Monday saw ruling and opposition benches at loggerheads with members trading abuses and Danve taking the lead in hurling expletives. The incident happened when the rival sides were on collision course over Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Hindu’ statement in Parliament. BJP whip Prasad Lad and other members such as Pravin Darekar, Pravin Datke, Shrikant Bharatiya and Ram Kadam announced a boycott of House proceedings until the chairperson introduced a suo motu motion condemning Gandhi.
When Lad was pointing fingers at Danve, who had said Gandhi’s statement was not relevant to council proceedings, Danve got upset and dared Lad not to repeatedly point fingers at him but towards the Speaker. Enraged, Danve hurled abusive words, which took the entire council by surprise. Knowing that the debate had turned too personal, Speaker Neelam Gorhe announced an adjournment. Soon after, ruling party MLCs led by Lad called on Gorhe in her chamber and demanded action against Danve. Gorhe then assured them she would announce her decision on Tuesday.
Danve, adamant after the incident, had told reporters, “Being a Shiv Sainik, I know how to give a befitting answer. If anyone points fingers at me, my wrists know how to break those fingers. I am a hardcore Sena activist and I have 50 cases of communal violence against me and have faced externment many times.”
Gorhe said, “Danve’s act is not only condemnable and objectionable but demeaning and disgraceful to one of the most venerated institutions of parliamentary affairs which promulgates laws. It is a clear insult of democracy’s supreme office and casts shadows on democratic values it has nurtured. To ensure such incidents never happen again, the House is suspending Danve and barring him from entry in the legislature premises for five days.” Opposition members asked for a debate over the move, which was denied by Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis who said there was no history of debates over such decisions.