CM’s motion in Speaker’s favour blot on democracy: Oppn.

Leaders meet Governor, allege CM intervened to prevent debate on Opposition’s notice of no-confidence against Speaker Haribhau Bagde

March 24, 2018 12:57 am | Updated 12:57 am IST - Mumbai

 Opposition leaders stage a protest after the House was adjourned on Friday.

Opposition leaders stage a protest after the House was adjourned on Friday.

The Opposition has termed the Chief Minister’s decision to move a motion of confidence in favour of the Speaker in the Assembly on Friday a blot on democracy.

The Opposition parties alleged that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis moved the motion to prevent a debate on its notice of no-confidence against Speaker Haribhau Bagde.

The Congress and the National Congress Party had submitted the notice on March 5 to protest against Mr. Bagde’s alleged partial and arbitrary behaviour and biased manner of conducting the proceedings of the House. The Opposition members claimed that they were not allowed to discuss the notice in the House as the BJP leaders were worried that Mr. Bagde’s biased conduct and the government’s failures would be exposed.

Sena backs motion

The Opposition had been demanding a discussion on the motion for the past two days. On Friday, even before the Opposition could raise its demand Mr. Fadnavis moved the confidence motion, which was seconded by Public Works Department Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.

After the motion was passed by a voice vote with the Shiv Sena’s support, the House was adjourned for 15 minutes. When the House met again, the presiding officer, Subhash Sabne, adjourned the House for another 15 minutes.

When the proceedings of the House resumed, the Leader of the Opposition, Radhkrishna Vikhe-Patil, said as per the rule the Speaker has to read out the notice after 14 days of its submission and ask 29 members of the House to stand up in support of it.

Mr. Vikhe-Patil said, “Why has the notice not found a place on the agenda for the day?” When he started reading out the notice in the Assembly, Mr. Fadnavis said it couldn’t be read out. Mr. Fadnavis said in 2006, the then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had moved a confidence motion in favour of his Council of Ministers. Mr. Fadnavis said, “We have just adhered to the set precedent and rules.” The House was then adjourned for the day.

Addressing a joint press conference after the Lower House was adjourned for the day, former speaker and NCP MLA Dilip Walse-Patil said the government and the legislature were two separate institutions. Mr. Walse-Patil said, “The Speaker should have admitted the notice as a motion and fixed a date of debate on the motion. The Chief Minister has no role to play in this.”

Mr. Walse-Patil said the precedent cited by Mr. Fadnavis was not reasonable as the 2006 motion was moved against the government. He said though the Chief Minister’s motion of confidence was passed, the Opposition’s notice of no-confidence still stays. Mr. Walse-Patil said, “The government is wrong in saying that the issue is over. Our no-confidence was not against the government. Since we don’t have the numbers in the House, it was clear that the no-confidence vote against the Speaker would not have been passed. But we expected a debate focussed on improving the functioning of the House.”

He added, “Although we were not allowed to speak, we kept quiet and wanted the House to function. But the treasury benches disrupted the proceedings and the House was adjourned. It is now clear that the government did not want to allow a debate on the law and order and corruption, which we were to raise.”

Not giving up

Leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said they would submit a letter to the Legislature Secretariat to list the notice in the business of the House on Monday. He said, “It is clear that the government did not want issues of corruption and its failure on all fronts to be discussed in the House. The government will have to answer the people.

“We will press for the no-confidence motion against the Speaker. The government has the majority in the Assembly and it can ask for the vote. Our no-confidence motion has not lapsed. We will demand a discussion on the motion on Monday.”

Jayant Patil of the NCP sought to know the need to adjourn the House after getting the trust vote passed by a voice vote. He said, “Why did they run away from a debate. We wanted the functioning of the House to improve and ensure that there is no injustice against the Opposition members who were not allowed to raise issues of public interest. The Speaker is working under government pressure.” Mr. Patil described Mr. Fadnavis’ action of moving the trust vote in favour of the Speaker as “childish”.

Former chief minister and Congress member Prithviraj Chavan said the Speaker had lost all moral authority to preside over the House. He said, “What was the fear when the government has majority in the Assembly. Why did the government run away from debate? What the Chief Minister did was reading out a statement. It was not a motion since it was not listed on the day’s agenda.”

Mr. Chavan also targeted the Shiv Sena for supporting the government. He said, “The true faces of the BJP as well as that of the Sena have been exposed. They can’t face the people. It is better if the Sena opposes the BJP in the Assembly and the Cabinet instead of the editorials in Saamana [the Sena mouthpiece]. It should come out of the Cabinet and target the BJP on the streets.”

Even after the House was adjourned for the day, the Opposition leaders continued to sit in the Assembly as a mark of protest. In the evening, a delegation of Congress and NCP leaders held a meeting with Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on the issue.

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