Maharashtra budget session: BJP brings breach of privilege motion against Sanjay Raut for 'chor mandal' comment

MP Sanjay Raut’s “chor mandal” (body of thieves) reference to Maharashtra Legislature led to tumultuous scenes in the Assembly on Wednesday, with Speaker Rahul Narvekar accepting the BJP’s notice of breach of privilege. Adjourning the House for the day, Narvekar called the remark “serious” and said he would initiate inquiry into the matter.

𝗥𝗮𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮 "𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗹", 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿

Earlier in the day, while interacting with the media in Kolhapur, Raut allegedly called ‘vidhimandal’ (legislature) “chor mandal”. The remark has also caused a major embarrassment to the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party, sources said.

Meanwhile, Raut reportedly said he didn’t mean to hurt the legislative houses. “I was speaking against those who stole the Shiv Sena as a party,” he said.

𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 '𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀', 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗼: 𝗠𝗟𝗖 𝗟𝗼𝗣 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝘃𝗲

His comment triggered uproar in the Legislative Council, too, with Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve initially distancing himself from it. Later, however, he said that the statement should be verified first. He said, “We should not forget that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had also called all opposition parties ‘traitors’. Action should be taken against him, too.”

𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗿, 𝗕𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗸𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝘂𝘁'𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸

In the Assembly, the issue was raised by BJP MLA Ashish Shelar and MLA Atul Bhatkalkar submitted a breach of privilege notice to Narvekar. Bhatkalkar said, “I have the video clip where he (Raut) has spoken to a TV news channel and called the assembly a ‘house of thieves’, and also called it a ‘house of goons’.”

Calling it an anti-Maharashtra act, Shelar said, “Is there a Dawood in this House? The opposition does not call Dawood a thief, but it calls members of this Assembly thieves! This is a place where laws are made to book thieves. The Speaker is a member of this Assembly and all opposition leaders are also its members. They should take pride in it.”

𝗔𝗷𝗶𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵

In tune with the BJP’s aggressive tone, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Ajit Pawar said, “No one has the right to call us thieves. Each MLA represents five lakh people of Maharashtra. After verifying the truth, the House can take necessary action against persons involved.”

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said if “action isn’t taken now, tomorrow thousands of Sanjay Rauts will malign the Assembly”.

Deputy Speaker in the Council, Neelam Gorhe, before adjournment of the session, said that Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis can initiate inquiry and take action against Raut. She said such matters have been raised before them in the past as well, but the Home Department was asked to look into them. “In this case, if you want me to take action against Raut, then you should give me the powers first. But then the ruling and opposition parties should not raise any objection against my decision,” she said.