MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Saturday revoked the suspension of nine of the 19 opposition members suspended for unruly behavior in the lower house of the legislature during presentation of the State budget.
The Assembly had suspended 10 members of NCP and nine of the Congress on March 22. Out of these, the suspension of five NCP members and four Congress members was revoked.
Terming the suspension as the ruling party's attempt to threaten them, the opposition had boycotted proceedings of the house for over a week. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Friday, had assured the upper house of the legislature that the government is positive about revoking suspension if the opposition comes forward for it.
Accordingly minister for Parliamentary Affairs Girish Bapat moved the motion for revoking suspension which was passed by a voice vote. Bapat said the members were suspended till December 2017 for "indiscipline and lowering the dignity of the House".
"Due to the suspension, they could not attend the rest of the budget session and would also miss the monsoon and winter session of the assembly. The government was of the view that it would not be right to keep away the members from attending the proceedings of the House," he added.
However, the opposition did not resume the house immediately as most of them are currently on a week-long 'Sangharsh Yatra' to highlight the government’s 'apathy' towards the plight of farmers.
The opposition MLAs, who had been demanding crop loan waiver had displayed banners before Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar as he was reading out his budget speech. They played cymbals and raised slogans in the house and burnt budget copies outside.