Mumbai: Nineteen opposition legislators were suspended from the Maharashtra legislative assembly by the Speaker for creating a commotion during the presentation of the state budget in the House on Saturday.

Nine legislators of the Congress and 10 of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have been prohibited from attending legislative sessions until December 31.

Opposition members have called it a gag order and an effort to suppress their voice when they raised a valid issue of waiving loans of debt-ridden farmers.

State parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat moved a resolution in the morning and Speaker of the assembly Haribhau Bagde accepted it and ordered the suspension of the members. Bagde said the legislators were suspended for “insulting the sovereign legislature by displaying banners on the floor of the House, burning copies of budget on legislature premises, creating ruckus and disrespecting the Speaker’s authority” during the budget presentation on March 18.

During the budget speech by Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, the opposition legislators had constantly played cymbals as their demand for farm loan waiver was not addressed by the government.

Mungantiwar also reminded the Congress and NCP legislators that their government had also taken a similar action against opposition members when they were in power. “If the opposition wanted farm loan waiver announced in the budget, they should have listened patiently. You can’t describe the suspension as unprecedented because you had taken similar action.”

Following the suspension, Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil led a walkout and the lower house was adjourned for the day.

Opposition leaders said the action was taken by the ruling side to avoid defeat over a cut motion which requires voting. Vikhe Patil said the BJP government was afraid of a defeat on the floor of the assembly as the opposition parties were planning a motion on farm loan waiver during the discussion on budget.

“The government was afraid that even Shiv Sena MLAs would have voted against it over the issue of farm loan waiver. Hence, to save the government, our MLAs were suspended,” said Jayant Patil of the NCP.

Cut motion is a power given to the members of the legislature to oppose a demand of Grants in the Finance Bill discussed by the government. If a cut motion is adopted and the government does not have the number, it is obliged to resign as per the rules.