Mumbai, Nov. 9: Four legislators of north Indian-baiter Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena slapped and kicked Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi for taking the oath in Hindi on the inaugural day of the new Assembly, the unparalleled assault in India’s parliamentary history earning the quartet a four-year suspension.

The MNS members, numbering 13, were obeying Raj’s diktat that MLAs would not be allowed to take the oath in any language other than Marathi.

When Azmi, himself no stranger to controversies, completed the oath and was returning to his seat, the four MNS members, led by Shishir Shinde, kicked and slapped him.

A shocked House almost unanimously moved a privilege motion and adopted a resolution suspending the four — Shinde, Ram Kadam, Ramesh Wanjale and MNS deputy leader in the House Vasant Gite — from entering the Assembly for four years. Their rights and privileges as MLAs also stand suspended.

MNS group leader Bala Nandgaonkar described the suspensions as “unconstitutional” since the party’s MLAs were yet to be sworn in as members of the House when the incident took place. He said the suspensions would be challenged in court.

The attack, the viciousness of which rivalled that in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in October 1997 when mikes were yanked off and thrown, can lead to the arrest of Raj if the Congress-led dispensation pursues the issue with vigour.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan, under pressure from the Congress high command to act tough, said he had asked the home department to probe if the MNS leadership had “instigated” the MLAs.

The Congress leadership is keen to dispel a perception that the party has been deliberately soft on Raj in a bid to marginalise the Shiv Sena.

The House did show soon after that a united stand can have some sobering effect — howsoever fleeting — on the MNS. When proceedings resumed after an adjournment, at least two Congress members, Amin Patel and Ramesh Singh Thakur, chose to take oath in Hindi as a mark of protest. The Congress’s Baba Siddique took oath in English, Sharad Patil in Airany — a Khandesh dialect — and the BJP’s Girish Bapat and Ramesh Mahajan in Sanskrit.

The MNS, finding itself isolated, did not oppose them.

Yesterday, Raj had written letters to all legislators appealing to them to take the oath in Marathi. Azmi, an MLA from Northeast Mumbai who had been accused in the Bombay blasts case but was later acquitted, threw down the gauntlet by announcing he would take the oath in Hindi.

“I respect the Marathi language. Whether to take oath in Hindi or Marathi is my right. Why should I listen to Raj Thackeray’s diktats?” Azmi asked.

As the Samajwadi leader stood up to take the oath, the MNS members entered the well. Wanjale knocked off the podium with multiple mikes. Some Congress members led by Siddique formed a protective shield around Azmi.

Azmi finished taking his oath and as he was returning to his seat, Shinde obstructed him with a protest banner and an argument broke out. Kadam slapped Azmi while Shinde kicked him.

MNS leader Nandgaonkar said Azmi could have taken the oath in Marathi — since the language, like Hindi, follows the Devnagri script.