Members of Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde faction in the Lok Sabha on Thursday came together with NCP members to protest against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s recent statement that Chhatrapati Shivaji is a symbol of the past.
As soon as the Zero Hour began in the Lower House, MPs from the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction stood up and started raising slogans of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
He could be seen gesturing to NCP MPs to join the protest, who also joined him. Gradually, MPs from the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena also stood up and were seen raising slogans of “Jai Bhavani” and “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai”.
AIMIM MP from Aurangabad Imtiyaz Jaleel was also seen standing in protest, while Independent MP from Amravati Navneet Rana supported the protest by sitting on his seat.
Some BJP MPs from Karnataka from neighboring areas of Maharashtra can also be seen standing near their seats speaking Marathi.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, who was raising the issue of Chinese incursion, could not be heard in the uproar in the House.
Later Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) MPs led by Arvind Sawant also came in the middle of the House and started cheering Shivaji.
When Shiv Sena’s Thackeray faction MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Vinayak Raut objected to Koshyari’s remarks (without naming him) on Shivaji, whom he described as a national icon, his views were echoed by NCP’s Shirur MP Amol Kolhe. This was echoed by , who said that Shivaji was like a god for the people of Maharashtra.
As the ruckus continued, Speaker Rajendra Agarwal adjourned the proceedings of the House.
Maharashtra has been witnessing protests for the past several weeks over Koshyari’s recent statement that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was a symbol of yesteryear.
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