Mumbai: MNS chief Raj Thackeray's diktat to
MLAs to take oath "only in Marathi" or face his party's wrath,
may see the enfant terrible of state politics facing a breach
of privilege move.
"A member of the House can take oath in any of the around
15 notified languages. No one can dictate to a member in which
language he or she should take oath," a senior Vidhan Bhawan
official said.
"All it would take is a member or members to approach the
Speaker and the presiding officer would not think twice before
admitting the notice of breach of privilege of the House and
its members," the official said.
"On earlier occasions, members have taken oath in Hindi,
Gujarati, Urdu, Sanskrit and English, besides Marathi," the
official said. The 289th member of the House, who represents
Anglo-Indian community, takes oath in English.
"No one objected when some Maharashtra MPs took oath in
the Lok Sabha in Marathi. Who is Raj to force MLAs to choose a
language," a Samajwadi Party functionary said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, November 02, 2009, 22:40