Mulund deaths drown Council proceedings in chaos

MUMBAI, APRIL 6: The drowning deaths of five youths in a Mulund well on Monday night had a ripple effect on the Legislative Council today...

MUMBAI, APRIL 6: The drowning deaths of five youths in a Mulund well on Monday night had a ripple effect on the Legislative Council today. Members of the ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance disrupted proceedings over the arrest of the main accused in the case Tony Agrawal, allegedly a Congress activist.

Demanding Agrawal’s arrest, members of the treasury as well as opposition benches shouted slogans, waved posters and hurled allegations and counter-allegations against him. Agrawal had allegedly offered the Dalit youths — who fell into the well trying to escape a police party — jobs if they evicted one Nitin Desai from a disputed property. Council chairperson Prof N S Pharande had to adjourn the house twice, for five minutes on one occasion and for ten minutes on the other.

Sena member Shishir Shinde and BJP member Prakash Javadekar first raised the issue during question hour through a point of order. “Agrawal is a Seva Dal activist and had contested the BMC elections from ward no 217 on a Congress ticket. He is an extortionist and threatened several people with dire consequences if they failed to comply with his whims. Agrawal prompted innocent youths to commit theft by assuring them jobs. He must be immediately booked and prosecuted,” Shinde said.

Objecting to Shinde’s statements, Leader of the Opposition Chhagan Bhujbal stated that if Agrawal had any links with the Congress party, he would be expelled. “We do not want to shield criminals and if Agarwal is connected to the party, he will be removed. But why have the police failed to arrest him? According to my information, the Mulund police let Agrawal off after a senior minister called them early in the morning. The episode must be investigated into by an independent agency,” countered Bhujbal.

At this point, ruling members gathered in the well of the house and started yelling anti-Congress slogans. “Tony Agrawal kaun hain? Dalito ka khooni hai,” “Tony Agrawal kaun hain? Congress ka ummidwar hain‘ went the slogans. Even before the opposition could retaliate, Pharande adjourned the house for five minutes.

When the house reassembled, opposition members took an aggressive stand, demanding that Agrawal’s links with ministers in the alliance government be probed. Congress member Vasant Chavan said running the house was the responsibility of the ruling members, and they should not create chaos. Instead, the Sena-BJP members started waving posters in the form of computer print-outs. Although Pharande objected, he could not control the agitating members. While he was trying to pacify them, Javadekar seated himself on a bench behind Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde. The opposition members strongly objected to this, and Pharande had to adjourn yet again.

When the house reassembled, Pharande refused all members permission to speak on the issue, and directed the government to make a statement on the facts of the case before the house.