A pro-Vidarbha statehood activist and journalist on Thursday shouted slogans to highlight problems of farmers in the press gallery of the Maharashtra legislative assembly in Nagpur when house proceedings were on.
Activist Prakash Pohare said he came to the press gallery of the assembly, which is having its winter session in Nagpur, as a representative of farmers to draw the attention of the house towards their problems.
Senior MLA Chetan Tupe, who was in the Chair at the time of the incident, ordered an inquiry into the episode after BJP chief whip Ashish Shelar raised the issue in the house and also referred to the December 13 security breach in the Lok Sabha.
A video showed Pohare, who is also the editor of a Marathi daily, walking out of the press gallery after shouting slogans with police accompanying him.
Talking to reporters outside the Vidhan Bhavan complex, Pohare justified his action, saying no one was raising issues of Vidarbha farmers and suicide by cultivators in the region in eastern Maharashtra.
The activist, a supporter of statehood for Vidarbha, said he has been coming to the Vidhan Bhavan for the last 5 to 6 days, but there was no mention of issues related to the region in the legislature. -- PTI