Zee Media Bureau
Pune: Maharasthra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday announced the closure of 44 toll booths out of total 166 in the state immediately.
The announcement made by Congress-NCP run government in the state is being seen as a measure to pacify the agitators protesting against the toll tax.
In February violent protests were carried out by MNS workers in several parts of the state including Mumbai and Thane. As a result, several toll booths were vandalised. MNS chief Raj Thackeray had asked his supporters to stop paying toll.
The state government is likely to announce its new tax collection policy in the ongoing monsoon session in the state Assembly.
Meanwhile, two Shiv Sena MLAs from Kolhapur area were suspended and physically evicted for disrupting the proceedings of the Assembly.
Trouble began during the debate on the state Budget when Sena MLAs Sujit Minchekar and Rajesh Kshirsagar began shouting slogans demanding immediate scrapping of toll and a discussion on the subject in the House.
They climbed the Speaker`s podium and lifted the mace in protest, forcing the chair to adjourn the House for ten minutes amid the ruckus.
Later, when the House reassembled, Deputy Speaker Vasant Purke announced the suspension of Minchekar and Kshirsagar for the rest of the session.
The defiant MLAs, however, refused to leave the House and squatted on the floor, forcing the chair to call in the Marshals to evict them physically.
Purke also asked other Shiv Sena members not to prevent the Marshals from doing their duty.
(With PTI inputs)
