MUMBAI: Maharashtra assembly Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution suspending Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi for the duration of the budget session for his remarks eulogising Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. The comments were made in the context of the release of the film Chhava, which depicts the conflict between Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Aurangzeb.
Responding to his suspension, Azmi said, “I was not given an opportunity to present my side. I have only said the same thing that professors and academics have said about Aurangzeb. I have never said anything against the state’s icons.”
The issue echoed in UP with CM Yogi Adityanath saying, ” SP should remove him. Do they support his views?” In the legislative council, Yogi asked SP to bring Azmi to UP and said “UP knows well how to take care of such people.”
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav defended Azmi, saying, “If some people think suspension can put a rein on the truth, then this is the childishness of their negative thinking.”
In the legislative council, when Fadnavis was asked by LoP Ambadas Danve of Shiv Sena (UBT) why Azmi was not jailed for his remarks, he said the MLA from Mankhurd-Shivajinagar will be “100 per cent” put in jail.
In the assembly, the resolution for Azmi’s suspension was moved by state minister Chandrakant Patil, a day after the issue rocked both houses.legislature.
“Azmi’s statements, which were made within the premises of legislature, are divisive and an insult to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. They have maligned the institution of the assembly,” said Patil. He asked for Azmi’s suspension for the duration of the budget session of the assembly and also that he not be allowed within its premises.
BJP neta Sudhir Mungantiwar demanded that Azmi’s membership of the assembly be scrapped. “In 2017, when a legislator made derogatory remarks about soldiers at the border, he faced more stringent punishment. Chhatrapati Shivaji and Sambhaji Maharaj are like gods for us. Why is Azmi being suspended only for one session,” questioned Mungantiwar.
Patil clarified that in the case of the suspension of 12 BJP MLAs by MVA govt, SC had ruled that the suspension could not proceed beyond one assembly session.
While Congress’s Vijay Wadettiwar supported Azmi’s suspension, he asked for action against other leaders who had insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji and Sambhaji Maharaj like Prashant Koratkar, actor Rahul Solapurkar and former governor B S Koshyari. This resulted in an outcry and sloganeering from governing party MLAs in the house.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi staged protests on the steps of Vidhan Bhavan Wednesday seeking action against Prashant Koratkar, Koshyari and Rahul Solapurkar over their alleged comments insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray called for the permanent suspension of Azmi from the assembly: ” It should not just be for the budget session, the suspension should be permanent.”
On Akhilesh Yadav’s tweets on Azmi’s suspension, Uddhav said, “Let him object if he wants to. Entire Maharashtra has raised an objection against him. If he wants, he should make him contest from there (UP). He does not know the truth.”
