Mumbai, July 12: Khadse was joined by BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar, who alleged that the government was indulging in “political blackmailing”. Mungantiwar said he had submitted a notice of breach of privilege against the government 10 days ago along with a CD comprising Thackeray”s statement that he had to take certain decisions to ensure that the suspension of his MLAs was lifted.
Speaker Dilip Walse Patil said the notice was being processed and he would take a decision on whether it could be moved on the floor of the House later. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, while rejecting charge of political blackmailing, said the Opposition was levelling allegations.
Echoing Chavan”s statement, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshvardhan Patil denied reports that the Thackeray-led party had voted for the ruling coalition in last month”s biennial Legislative Council polls and pointed out that they were held through secret ballot.”Nobody knows who voted for whom,” he said and demanded that the allegation of political blackmail levelled by the BJP be removed from the records. Azmi, who wanted to speak on the issue, was not allowed permission by the Chair following which he and his SP colleagues staged a walkout.
———PTI