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Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi asked Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on what grounds it planned to revoke the suspension of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLAs who disrupted Azmi's oath taking.
"The Congress-NCP government has the right to revoke the suspension as they are in majority, but what has changed in the last year to merit revoking the suspension," Azmi told reporters in Mumbai. The ruling combine's 'love' for MNS is increasing, Azmi said. "The Congress-NCP government's love for MNS is increasing...however, Bihar elections are approaching," Azmi told reporters, in an apparent reference to the price Congress will have to pay for its perceived closeness to MNS.
In 2009, MNS MLAs attacked Azmi inside the state assembly, for taking oath in Hindi and not in Marathi marking a violent debut for Raj Thackeray's party in the house. The Assembly acted tough and passed a resolution suspending four MNS members from the House for four years within hours after the chaos. The MLAs were also accused of misbehaving with a woman MLA. The resolution moved by parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil to suspend Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Vanjale, Ram Kadam and Vasant Geete was approved by a voice vote. Without naming MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Azmi said, "what action has been taken against those who provoked the attack on me."