Maharashtra State Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal demanded the dismissal of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar on Monday for allegedly threatening a former Member of Parliament, Haribhai Rathod, in the office premises of the election officer of the Colaba assembly constituency, after the incident’s video went viral last week.
“The conduct of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar, involving misuse of his office, is a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct. CCTV footage related to this incident has been destroyed. This shows that the Election Commission is not acting honestly. The Election Commission should have registered an offence by now, if not keeping the will of the people in mind, then at least for the sake of its own conscience. But once again, the Election Commission has proved that it is tied to the BJP’s apron strings,” Sapkal told media persons.
Sapkal said that the Congress wrote a letter to the Election Commission demanding an inquiry and action against Narvekar, but the Election Commission asked for evidence. “There is CCTV footage of the incident, but the footage has been destroyed. Action should be taken based on the statements of opposition candidates who were physically stopped and threatened by Narvekar while trying to file their nominations. Although the inquiry report has arrived, it only contains verbal abuses.” Sapkal said.
“Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar has ruined the prestige of that post. Even during his first term as Speaker, Narvekar violated the Inter-Party Prohibition Act and destroyed democracy and the Constitution. So he was given a second chance. Now Narvekar has descended to a lower level to get his relatives elected in the municipal corporation elections. He obstructed the filing of nomination applications by opposition candidates by threatening them, misusing his post. Strict action must be taken against him. Her Excellency President Draupadi Murmu must dismiss Narvekar from the Speaker’s post,” Sapkal said.
”Constitutional authorities like the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Chairman of the Legislative Council, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Governor are expected to maintain a non-political stance, since they hold extremely important constitutional positions. However, Rahul Narvekar behaved like a criminal thug and threatened a member of the opposition. Narvekar’s body language, conduct, and intimidation tactics were of an extremely low level. To ensure that a member of his own family was elected unopposed, Narvekar stood blocking the door of the election returning officer and prevented opposition candidates from filing their nomination papers. This behaviour is disgraceful and amounts to misuse of his office,” Sapkal said.
“Haribhau Rathod is a former MP. What kind of behaviour is it to threaten him and issue instructions to withdraw his security? As Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, Narvekar has begun to consider himself bigger than the Constitution. We had seen horse trading after elections, but now, even before elections, might-is-right methods are being used openly. Those declared as elected unopposed are not popular. Elections are the essence of democracy, but this entire process is being hollowed out. The country will have to face serious consequences due to this,” the Congress leader said.
“The country’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had six non-Congress ministers in his cabinet. This is our culture and tradition, but the BJP and its Mahayuti do not want any opposition, and they are going to any extent to get elected unopposed. We condemn their shameless game of not allowing opposition candidates to file applications by threatening them with the help of the police and administration. The Election Commission has become a silent witness to this. In a democracy, there is also an option of pressing the ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) button, which is part of the right to vote given by the Constitution. Voters should be given the opportunity to use ‘NOTA’ in places where Mahayuti candidates won unopposed,” Sapkal said.
Talking about the issue of the alleged Rs 70,000 crore corruption involving Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Sapkal stated that “Those in power are corrupt, and therefore no one can take action against anyone, nor do they step down from power. However, Ajit Pawar has directly challenged Narendra Modi and Devendra Fadnavis,” Sapkal said.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has revealed that Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol helped notorious criminal Nilesh Ghaywal obtain a passport. “This is an extremely serious matter and a violation of the Passport Act, 1967. Helping notorious criminals travel abroad poses a threat to national security. Therefore, Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol must be made to resign immediately, and the entire matter must be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),” Sapkal demanded.