Congress MLA Bhai Jagtap and Maha Vikas Aghadi MLAs staged a protest in the winter session of Maharashtra Assembly at Vidhan Bhawan in Nagpur on Tuesday over Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case. | Photo Credit: ANI
Congress MLAs walked out of the Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday after Speaker Rahul Narvekar rejected their request for an urgent discussion on the Parbhani violence and Beed killing incident.
After sitting on the second day of the winter session, Congress member Nitin Raut and his party colleague Nana Patole submitted an adjournment notice saying that since these issues are recent, they should be taken up for discussion immediately and ‘threaten to disrupt the social structure’. of the state.”
However, the speaker rejected the adjournment notice saying that the issues were listed for discussion on Wednesday.
Congress MLAs boycotted the day’s proceedings after the rejection. They were joined by the other constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance – the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP). But Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs later returned to the House.
Extreme violence
Violence erupted in Madhya Maharashtra’s Parbhani town on the evening of December 10 after a glass-encased replica of the Constitution was found vandalized near Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue outside Parbhani railway station. Police arrested more than 50 people. Somnath Suryavanshi, a 35-year-old man and one of those arrested, reportedly died in judicial custody due to “multiple traumatic shocks”.
Santosh Deshmukh, Sarpanch of Masajog Rural Municipality of Beed, was abducted and killed on 9th of January.
“Ambedkar activist (Suryavanshi) died in judicial custody due to police beating. It is necessary to draw immediate attention to this matter. The more we delay the discussion, the more Maharashtra will have to suffer,” Mr. Patole said.
He also questioned the ‘police combing operation’ that took place four hours after the incident and questioned whether it was authorized by the state.
‘Silence the opposition’
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar accused the speaker of not allowing the opposition to speak. “This is a way of silencing us and failing to hold the authorities accountable,” he alleged.
NCP (SP) member Sandeep Kshirsagar said Valmik Karad was the “main accused” in the sarpanch’s murder and was still absconding. He claimed that he was not charged with murder but with extortion.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party of India has called for a bandh in Nashik’s Manmad town over the Parbhani violence. Several cities, including Nanded, Navi Mumbai, Jalna and Jintur, observed bandh on Monday.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar visited Suryavanshi’s family in Parbhani. Mr Pawar said his mother had complained about him being “harassed by the police”. The deceased brother Premnath has demanded an SIT probe into the death, the NCP leader said.
Mr. Pawar asked what action had been taken against the “erring police officers”.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs did not participate in Tuesday’s protest.
(with PTI input)
published – December 18, 2024 at 01:18 am IST