The Council was adjourned for the second consecutive day on Friday over State government’s “failure” to give reservation for the Dhangar (shepherd) community, and address the issue of corruption by Cabinet ministers.
Like Thursday, the House was adjourned three times before continuous pandemonium forced the chairman to call off the proceedings for the day prior to lunch time. Leader of the Opposition Dhananjay Munde claimed that the Opposition had ‘conclusive evidence’ against 16 ministers of the BJP-Shiv Sena government and the treasury benches were causing commotion only to avoid a debate.
“This Government is trying to protect the corrupt. This has been the policy of this government, and we condemn their casual approach to such a serious issue,” he said.
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The Opposition MLCs said the government has broken away from the traditions of the august house by evading important debates brought up under the Legislative Rules. “This Government has broken away from the tradition by not allowing the dissenting voices to put across a point of public interest,” said Bhai Jagtap (Congress).
‘Sena behind downfall of Marathi’
Members of the Opposition on Friday blamed the Shiv Sena for the downfall of the Marathi language, alleging that the party when in power had not done enough to preserve the language.
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Speaking in the Council over the proposal for grant of classical status to Marathi language and issues related to its conservation, Kapil Patil of the Lok Bharati Party said, “The Sena despite being in power for so many years has not done enough. It even enters agreement with its staff and members in English, and then claims to be a saviour of the language in public.” He also demanded at least 50 % subsidy for Marathi medium schools.