Maharashtra’s newly appointed Health Minister Tanaji Sawant on Thursday failed to reply to questions raised in the Maharashtra Assembly over issues like elephantiasis and illegal abortions, which led to an uproar in the House.
The House proceedings during the Question Hour were disrupted after Sawant failed to give satisfactory answers.
Some members asked questions about Palghar district reporting a rise in the number of cases of elephantiasis and illegal abortions in Beed district.
Sawant said, “I have no information on any of the questions. I have taken charge of the ministry a couple of days back.” Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar asked Speaker Rahul Narvekar to intervene as Sawant could not give a satisfactory reply to the questions. Sawant had served as the state water conservation minister in 2019 under the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He had stoked a controversy by attributing a breach in Tiware dam in Ratnagiri district, which led to the death of 18 people, to the weakening of the wall by crabs.
Sawant had called the dam breach incident a ”natural calamity”.
