Mumbai: The opposition on Thursday staged a walkout from the Maharashtra legislative assembly after they felt that the reply they received on the issue related to action against websites publishing derogatory articles about Savitribai Phule was inadequate.
When members raised the issue of derogatory articles about Savitribai Phule, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the house about the action saying that notices have been served to the websites and that the articles have already been pulled down. He also said that request has been sent to twitter to reveal information related to the twitter account that first published the articles on the microblogging site.
MLA agitated over these articles
However, the members were not satisfied with the reply. "How can the government relax when those who insulted SavitriMai are roaming scot-free?" asked Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat. He also questioned government's intentions in the case. Thorat also highlighted the dual nature of government action. "On one hand you take arbitrary action against Rahul Gandhi to prevent him from saying truth and on the other hand such sick minded criminals are let to roam free," he said.
Several members expressed dissatisfaction over this issue
Several other members too expressed strong dissatisfaction over the government action in the case and sought a stronger and concrete action against those who wrote derogatory articles.
In his attempt to calm down the agitated members, DCM Fadnavis said that the treasury benches too have emotions similar to that of the opposition members. "We too feel that the perpetrators of such a crime should be hanged. But, we'll have to follow the law while taking action."
However, the opposition members were not satisfied with the reply and they sought permission to speak. When Speaker Adv Rahul Narvekar denied them the permission to speak, the opposition staged a walkout.