GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat Congress MLA Rutvik Makwana was on Thursday reprimanded by Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi for a "controversial statement" on freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.
Makwana had made the statement on Thursday last week and the Speaker had, at the time, asked him to either apologise or bring evidence to support his claim.
As evidence, Makwana produced some articles, a write-up by a former RBI governor and a book on Savarkar by author Jaywant Joglekar etc.
However, Speaker Trivedi told the House "the controversial statement made by the MLA, which I do not want to repeat here, does not get support from the evidence produced by him".
"This is because these are mere personal opinions of the writers, and these personal opinions cannot be counted as authentic evidence," Trivedi added.
Reprimanding the MLA, Trivedi said Makwana should not make such allegations in the future against the country's respectable individuals.
Trivedi added that, in case any member wanted to make such comments in the future, he will have to take the Speaker's prior permission with authentic evidence in support.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Paresh Dhanani said he had authentic evidence on the issue and added that the opposition was ready for a discussion.
The Speaker requested him to not stretch the issue or else he will also be counted as supporting Makwana's statement.