Maharashtra government suffers embarrassment over translation​ mess

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government suffered a huge embarrassment on Monday as the translation of the Governor’s address before the joint seating of the state legislature could not reach the members. Taking a serious note of the lapse on first day of the budget session, the Governor asked the Chairman and Speaker to take strong action against those responsible.

Just as Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao started reading out his address in English at the central hall of the state legislature, opposition members gathered in the well and shouted that they were unable to hear the Marathi translation of the speech. After a few minutes of sloganeering, they staged a walkout.Speaking in the legislative assembly after the Governor’s address, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis admitted that it was a serious goof-up and said he would request the Chairman and Speaker of the respective houses to take a serious note of the issue. He also assured the house that action would be taken against the culprit. 

Speaking to The New Indian Express, Minister for Marathi language Vinod Tawde blamed the goof-up on an unidentified staff who guided the announcer to the wrong auditorium. “An announcer from the All India Radio (AIR) had arrived to read out the translation. However, he was directed to the assembly hall instead of the central hall,” the minister said.He also refuted the charges of some members that they heard a Gujarati translation instead of Marathi. “They are so frightened of the Gujaratis (Modi-Shah duo) that they see and hear them everywhere,” Tawde said.