NAGPUR: The Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP on Monday staged a mock funeral procession in the Maharashtra Assembly to highlight the growing suicides of debt-ridden farmers in the State.

Sunil Dhande of the Shiv Sena was the corpse and the pallbearers were the BJP's Devendra Phadnis, Girish Mahajan and others who chanted "Ram Nam Satya Hai" to symbolise that the dying farmers were getting no solace from the Government. As the sloganeering intensified, some legislators tore up agenda papers and threw them down.

The ruling coalition members tried to stop them as they neared the `well' of the House and moved towards the treasury side. The action threw the House into turmoil and Speaker Babasaheb Kuppekar adjourned it.

It all started with a procedural tussle — under which rule the House should debate the issue of farmers' suicides. Leader of the Opposition Ramdas Kadam (Shiv Sena) had given the notice demanding an immediate discussion under Rule 97 or 57 — censure and voting.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was willing to have the discussion under Rule 101. Mr. Kuppekar asked the Opposition to start the debate and let the Chair decide about the relevance of the rule. But that did not help and suddenly the House saw the mock funeral procession.

Last year, a Shiv Sena member, Gulabro Gawande, had tried self-immolation in the House and created quite a scene. Some years ago when the Shiv Sena-BJP combine was ruling, the Congress had presented a mock funeral when about 10 Dalits were killed in police firing in Mumbai.

``Breach of decorum''

The Treasury Benches and the Chair held that the incident was a breach of decorum and privileges of the House. Legislative Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Patil moved a resolution calling for suspension of 10 Sena-BJP members from the House for the rest of the week.

A senior member suggested conciliation and the House was adjourned to facilitate that. But that did not help. On reconvening, Mr. Deshmukh said the Government would not insist on suspension but expected Mr. Kadam to express regret.

He countered that Mr. Deshmukh had expressed no apology on the suicides but expected him to do so for an incident in the House. The Chief Minister retorted that "I did not ask for an apology but only regrets. Since he expresses no regrets despite creating such a scene and bringing obstacles in the functioning of the House, I being the Leader of the House express my regrets."

But that also did not satisfy the Opposition, which showed no interest in starting the debate. Finally, it boycotted the House for the day.

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