Code of conduct for legislators mooted

The issue started when Shiv Sena member Shishir Shinde raised a point of propriety soon after Question Hour was over. Shinde spoke about the incident wherein five Dalit youths died after falling in a well in Mulund on Monday night.

He said, 8220;The culprit behind the entire episode is Tony Agrawal who was a Congress officebearer and had contested BMC elections in 1997 from Ward No 217. Recently, Leader of the Opposition Chhagan Bhujbal attended a function in Mulund wherein he accepted garlands from the said Agrawal. The police must probe if there are any links between Agrawal and Bhujbal. The government must ensure that Agrawal is arrested at the earliest,8221; Shinde said.

Shinde8217;s speech irked the Opposition members, especially, Bhujbal. 8220;A political leader has to attend hundreds of public functions where he has to accept garlands from unknown people. If one of them later commits a crime, the political leader cannot be blamed for the same. Agrawal has been expelled from the party and we want him immediately arrested. As there is not a single valid point in Shinde8217;s speech, the same should be expunged from records of the proceedings,8221; Bhujbal said.

At this point, members from the treasury benches started shouting anti-Congress slogans and even waved banners in the house. The banners read: 8220;The demons of Congress havekilled five Dalit youths,8221; and 8220;Dalits are paying a heavy price for vested interests of Congress leaders.8221; Pharande objected to Sena members Arvind Sawant, Jaiprakash Baviskar, Ravindra Mirlekar and Shishir Shinde for bringing the banners inside the house.

Till now, over 45 minutes of the precious time of the House were lost in chaos and Pharande was visibly upset. At this point, Munde said it was high time the members followed a code of conduct to maintain decorum of the House. 8220;I request that a meeting of all party leaders and senior members should be organised to form the code. We must honour the valuable time of the House,8221; Munde said.

Pharande ruled that there was no substance in the point of propriety raised by Shinde. 8220;In 99 per cent of such points raised by members, there is absolutely no substance and the valuable time of the House is unnecessarily lost. I am planning to make it mandatory for the members to give a written notice for raising a point of propriety in the House on any subject.As suggested by the Deputy Chief Minister, I will summon a meeting to formulate a code of conduct to be observed by members on the floor of the House,8221; Pharande said.