Overview

• On July 4, acting presiding officer Chetan Tupe used the Speaker’s chair to criticize absent opposition MLAs for shedding “crocodile tears” during a debate on farmers’ suicides.
• Congress’s Vijay Wadettiwar, supported by Shiv Sena’s Bhaskar Jadhav and Congress’s Nana Patole, lodged a formal objection to Tupe’s partisan commentary.
• Speaker Rahul Narwekar rebuked Tupe and barred him from presiding over the next day’s assembly proceedings, emphasizing the chair must remain apolitical.
• Narwekar assured lawmakers that no further political speeches would originate from the Speaker’s chair and that constitutional and House rules will be strictly enforced.
• He is now reviewing further disciplinary measures aimed at reinforcing procedural integrity and maintaining the nonpartisan nature of the chair.