Nagpur: Senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare on Friday threatened to commit suicide inside the Maharashtra legislative council, leaving the entire House stunned for a couple of minutes.
He was enraged over casual remarks by PWD minister Chandrakant Patil and other members on a textbook controversy, which forced chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar to adjourn the proceedings till Monday.
The trouble started soon after the question hour when Tatkare, the former irrigation minister, displayed a Std VI textbook of geography published by the Maharashtra State Board containing six to seven pages of Gujarati text, while rest of the pages are in Marathi.
It was sent by one of the students from Konkan to him. He accused the BJP-led government of implementing Gujarati agenda and brainwashing the children by forcing them to study neighbouring state’s language under directives from their top leaders.
Leader of opposition (LOP) Dhananjay Munde claimed that over one lakh copies of textbook were published by the state board since 2016, without realizing the blunder. MLC Ashok Jagtap blamed the government for promoting Gujarati legacy and ignoring Marathi language.
The chairman directed the government to probe the blunder and table a report in the House on Monday.
All legislators demanded an apology from the government on the issue and sought answers on steps taken to remove Gujarati text from the textbook. As no reply came from the treasury benches, the Congress-NCP legislators trooped down the well and started shouting anti-government slogans along with ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ and ‘Jai Vidarbha’.
It led to first adjournment on the issue at about 2.50pm for 15 minutes. When the House resumed, the opposition members’ sloganeering continued, which led to second adjournment of 15 minutes.
The agitating members then came out of the House and directly arrived at media platform, where they again slammed the government for downplaying Marathi language and promoting Gujarati. They listed out various other projects like bullet train which were taken to Gujarat.
“This government doesn’t have any self respect and had bowed down before their leaders from the neighbouring state. Unless we’re provided with answers, we will not allow the House to run,” Munde, flanked by Tatkare and Jagtap, warned.
When the proceedings resumed for third time, Patil brought out the same textbook which did not have any Gujarati text or pages. “Those pages may have been included during binding by mistake. If one lakh such copies would have been published, it would have created a big uproar, as those were already distributed in schools in June,” he said.
Munde then asked why the textbook needed to print at Ahmedabad by Shlok Print City, when hundreds of printers were available in the state. He demanded action against the printer and cancellation of contract and also against board officials for not realizing the blunder.
When Patil casually stated that Gujarati language pages may have been deliberately included in the textbook, Tatkare took an objection. He said in his over three decades of experience as a politician, he has never indulged in such dirty tactics. “If you could prove your charges against me, I will end my life here by consuming poison,” he said, which led to uproar among the members and led to the final adjournment.
