Samajwadi party MLA Abu Azmi had to pay a heavy price for his remarks praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb as he was suspended from the Vidhan Sabha till the end of budget session on Wednesday.
Mumbai:Samajwadi party MLA Abu Azmi had to pay a heavy price for his remarks praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb as he was suspended from the Vidhan Sabha till the end of budget session on Wednesday. The Vidhan Sabha passed a motion unanimously by a voice vote to suspend Azmi, who had eulogised Aurangzeb by saying the latter was not a cruel leader.
Maharashtra parliamentary affairs minister Chandrakant Patil moved the proposal in the House saying that Azmi’s objectionable remarks had undermined the dignity of the Vidhan Sabha. Members of the ruling MahaYuti alliance said Azmi’s remark eulogising Aurangzeb was an insult of legendary Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.
BJP MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar said that Azmi’s Vidhan Sabha membership should be revoked altogether and not just be suspended for one or two sessions. “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is revered, and we can’t let go of those who insult him so easily,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, speaking to the media, demanded that Azmi should be permanently suspended from the Vidhan Sabha. He said, “It should not just be for the Budget Session, the suspension should be permanent.”
Reacting to his suspension, Azmi called the action against him ‘unfair’ and an ‘injustice’ to the “millions of people” he represents. “My suspension from the Maharashtra assembly for the budget session is not just an injustice to me but also to the millions of people I represent. This is an unfair action against me. I would like to ask the Maharashtra government – are there two sets of laws in the state? One law for Abu Asim Azmi and another for Prashant Koratkar and Rahul Sholapurkar?” he said on X.
The SP MLA had stoked a controversy by saying the history shown about the Mughal Emperor is wrong and he was not a ‘cruel ruler.’ Azmi also said that the battle between Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Aurangzeb was not religious but rather for power.
Facing backlash, Azmi later offered an apology claiming his statements were “twisted” and that he had no intention of disrespecting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. “My words have been twisted. I have said what historians and writers have said about Aurangzeb Rahmatullah Alaih. I have not made any derogatory comment about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji Maharaj or any other great men - but still if anyone has been hurt by my statement, then I take back my words, my statement,” he said in a video posted on X.
The budget session of the state legislature will end on March 26.
