Money Appropriation Bill finally passed in Maharashtra Council amid ruckus by Opposition
Mumbai : The Maharashtra Legislative Council passed the Money Appropriation (Vote of Account) Bill conditionally on Saturday that the Speaker will revoke the suspension of the 19 legislators. Accordingly, the suspension of 12 members will be revoked on March 29 and the suspension of the remaining seven members will be revoked on April 7.
As soon as the House assembled after the question hour, Chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar said that according to Constitutional norms, the Bill will have to be cleared by the Council. The motion for passing the Bill was moved by Minister of State for Finance Deepak Kesarkar.
The Chair then called for a voice vote and cleared the Bill, even as the members of Opposition, mainly Congress and the NCP created a pandemonium in the Well of the House. Girish Bapat, the Parliamentary Affairs minister had informed on Friday that as per the Constitution, a money bill passed by the Assembly needs to be passed by the Council within 14 days, else it is deemed to be passed.
The Appropriation Bill, which had the provision of Rs 50,000 crore, was passed in the Assembly on Thursday. Meanwhile, during a meeting of the speaker of the Assembly and the chairman of the Council, along with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and group leader of both the Houses, an unanimous decision was taken by the ruling BJP that they will withdraw suspension of 19 MLAs before end of this ongoing budget session.
The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party leaders were firm on their stand to withdraw the decision otherwise they would not allow the Upper House to function.
“We have threatened the government that the Council House will be adjourned for the remaining period of this session and the House will assemble during the monsoon session scheduled in July,” said one of the members of Upper House.
Ambedkar memorial: State gets mill land
Decks have been cleared for the construction of a memorial of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar near Chaityabhoomi in central Mumbai with the 12 acres of Indu Mill land being formally transferred to the state government on Saturday.
The transfer documents were handed over to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis by Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale at Vidhan Bhavan here on Saturday.
Making a statement in the Legislative Assembly later, Fadnavis announced the transfer of land and said the state government’s name has been incorporated in the land records.
He said the Centre had allowed the state government to start work on the land and the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has already begun clearing the area. Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) permissions have also been acquired.
Fadnavis said the transfer of development rights (TDR) has been given to the National Textile Corporation (NTC) by the state government. The Chief Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Smriti Irani for handing over the land to the state government.
Manhandling of farmer: Report in 2 days: Govt
The Maharashtra government will submit a report to the Legislative Council in two days regarding the alleged “manhandling” of a farmer by security staff in Mantralaya (state secretariat) on Thursday.
Farmer Rameshwar Bhusare, who hails from Ghatshendra village in Kannad taluka of Aurangabad district, was beaten up by policemen on duty when he had come to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
As soon as the House assembled for the day after the Question Hour, senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare, speaking on the adjournment motion, said that an “assault” on one farmer is an insult to the entire farming community.
“The assault would have been captured on CCTV cameras. We demand that the entire incident should be out before people. This is a heartless government. Instead of reassuring farmers that their problems would be solved, it is indulging in violence against them,” Tatkare said.
Taking a dig at Shiv Sena members, he said the party continues to back the BJP despite its chief Uddhav Thackeray criticising the government everyday.
Supporting the adjournment motion, Congress group leader Sharad Ranpise said that when the Opposition members met the farmer, there was blood smeared on his shirt and trousers and his face required seven stitches. –
Demolish Jinnah House: BJP MLA
Mumbai: BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Saturday demanded that Jinnah House, the residence of Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in south Mumbai, be demolished and a cultural centre be built in its place.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on the budgetary demands of the Public Works Department (PWD), the MLA said, “The Jinnah residence in south Mumbai was the place from where the conspiracy of partition was hatched.”
