How Shiv Sena UBT MLA Anil Parab's 'traitor' jibe at Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai led to house adjournment

Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai and Shiv Sena UBT legislator Anil Parab on Thursday had a verbal clash over the use of term Gaddar in state legislative council. Following their heated exchange of words the house had to be adjourned for some time. Anil Parab used the term Gaddar (traitor) targeting the minister on the issue of reservation for Marathi people in upcoming new housing schemes.

The heated exchange of words took place during a discussion on the demand of reserving 50 per cent of the units in newly built housing societies for Marathi people. Deputy Chairperson of the council, Neelam Gorhe, later stated that the remarks made by the two leaders would be expunged from the official records.

The issue was raised during question hour by Milind Narvekar of the Shiv Sena (UBT). He said that a social organisation 50 per cent of the housing units in the city be reserved for Marathi people. He also asked whether the government has taken any positive decision on this.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who also holds the housing portfolio, said in a written response that the department has not received any such letter from the social organisation. BJP leader Chitra Wagh said it was appropriate to reserve 50 per cent houses for Marathi people. She asked whether there was any such proposal when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister.

To this, minister Shambhuraj Desai, who was replying on behalf of Shinde, said there was no such proposal when the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in power. "No one has the right to deny Marathi manoos a house in Mumbai, its suburbs or Maharashtra. If any builder does this, the government will take strict action," he said.

Shiv Sena leader Hemant Patil, in an apparent dig at Thackeray, said when people are in power, there is a chance to do some good for Marathi manoos, Chaturvedis are sent to Rajya Sabha instead of Narvekars. He was referring to Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi.

Sena (UBT) legislator Parab said he had brought an unofficial bill in the House to reserve 50 per cent of the houses in redeveloped buildings for Marathi-speaking people. He also asked if the state government would bring such a law. But minister Desai said when the MVA was in power during 2019-2022, it did not bring any such law. "You did not do that and this has come on record. Your love for Marathi manoos is fake and hollow," claimed Desai.

This resulted in a verbal altercation between the two with Parab calling Desai a "gaddar" (traitor), a jibe used by Sena (UBT) to attack the MLAs who were part of the group that sided with Eknath Shinde during the rebellion in 2022, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena. A furious Desai questioned Parab for the remark, and asked him to meet outside the House. As tempers ran high, Gorhe adjourned the House for 10 minutes. Later, she said the remarks made by Desai and Parab will not be part of the House's record.

India