Maharashtra Legislative Council adjourned for the day after Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve demanded a discussion on falling onion prices.
The adjournment also meant that the Council could not immediately take a call on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s letter to the deputy chairperson seeking that Viplov Gopikishan Bajoria be made the Shiv Sena’s chief whip in the Upper House.
Currently, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MLC Anil Parab is the party’s chief whip in the House. Danve, who belongs to the Thackeray faction, demanded that the upper house discuss issues related to onion prices, but it was denied by deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe, leading to legislators of the ruling and opposition parties arguing and levelling charges against each other.
Danve said, state government is trying to silence the voice of the Opposition. All we wanted was a detailed discussion on issues of crashing onion prices and farmers’ woes. The price per kilogram of onion came down to Rs 2 to Rs 4 on Monday at Maharashtra’s Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), Asia’s biggest onion market, prompting angry farmers to stop the auction of the key kitchen staple.