Scuffle Between Shiv Sena Minister and Legislator Rocks Maharashtra Legislature

Mumbai: The Maharashtra legislature was rocked by the alleged scuffle between a Shiv Sena minister and the party legislator in the lobby of the legislative assembly on Friday. The opposition cornered the government over the reported incident and sought clarification. The proceedings of the legislative council were adjourned for an hour because of the pandemonium. In the legislative assembly, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader commented that the gang war of the ruling party has reached the doorstep of the Assembly. However, the minister and the MLA denied the incident and claimed it was only a verbal altercation.

According to reports, the incident happened when chief minister Eknath Shinde was present in the Assembly. An eyewitness informed that Mr. Thorve confronted Mr. Bhuse regarding some work in his constituency, which led to heated exchanges and there was also pushing and shoving by the both. Other Shiv Sena MLAs Shambhuraj Desai and Bharat Gogawale intervened and separated the two.

However, Mr. Thorve and Mr. Bhuse denied the incident. “I had given a work related to Mr. Bhuse’s department, but that was not being cleared by him. Even the CM told him that ministers should do MLAs’ works. But Mr. Bhuse intentionally did not take any decision on my file. Therefore I confronted him. We only discussed the issue and there were few words exchanged. But there was no scuffle.

The opposition slammed the government over the alleged incident. The proceedings of the Legislative Council were adjourned for an hour as the Opposition kept seeking a statement from the government. After the house reconvened, minister Shambhuraj Desai clarified that he was present when the alleged incident took place. “There was no physical altercation. The CCTV footage from the Assembly lobby can be checked to confirm it,” he said.

However, the deputy chairman of the Council Neelam Gorhe informed that she has also taken the information from the security and learned that the CCTV cameras in the Assembly lobby were not working because of some electrical work happening there.

In the legislative assembly, NCP’s Jayant Patil raised the issue and said, “Mr. Bhuse and Mr. Thorve came to blows within the campus of the legislative building. It looks like the gang war has reached the legislature. This House must be informed about the incident,” he said.

Later, several Opposition legislators demanded an explanation from the government.Mr. Bhuse, who was in the House, denied any scuffle between him and Mr. Thorve. “We are from the same party. Mr. Thorve is a friend. We were only talking and the reports about our scuffle are not true,” the minister said.