A snippet from an interview with Raj Thackeray after the recent Maharashtra state elections:
Mumbai Mirror: So we take it that your MLAs will be suspended in the first session for being disruptive?
Raj Thackeray: (laughs) No, no. They will be raising issues in an aggressive manner. We have experienced people like Bala Nandgaonkar, Shishir Shinde… They know the rules and procedures. We will be holding sessions for our MLAs before every session. My agenda is three-fold: water, power and roads. My MLAs will hold this trishul in the Assembly and I will drive this agenda outside on the streets.
The opening paragraph of a report on the State Assembly’s first session:
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday suspended four MNS members for four years on charges of assaulting SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi, who took the oath in Hindi against their party leader Raj Thackeray’s diktat, and misbehaving with a woman legislator.
Good one Mr Thackeray, I almost fell for it.