Mumbai: Around 16 legislators from across party lines will embark on a 10-day study tour of the United Kingdom next week. The legislators are expected to visit the House of Commons and House of Lords among other places in England, Scotland and other parts of the UK.
The tour has been organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), which will fund 75% of it to the tune of ₹1.5 crore. The remaining 25% will be borne by the MLAs. Legislators’ spouses, if accompanying them, have to pay their own way.
The state legislature has appointed a private agency to make all the arrangements and the per-person expenditure is expected to be about ₹7 lakh. The CPA had planned a tour of Israel, but it was called off because of the forthcoming elections in that country.
Nationalist Congress Party legislator Amol Mitkari, who is part of the delegation, said the visa formalities were completed on Friday at Vidhan Bhavan. “Many of those who were on the list for the Israel tour have opted out of this one,” he said. “The 16 who remain have completed their formalities.” The delegation, however, will comprise around 25 people, as three officials and some spouses of legislators are expected to join.
Namita Mundada, Shweta Mahale and Samadhan Autade from BJP, Amol Mitkari, Chandrakant Navghare, Yashwant Mane and Anil Patil from NCP, Sangram Thopate, Abhijit Wanjari, Mohan Hambarde and Vajahat Mirza from Congress, and independent Kishore Jorgeawar are part of the team. Vidhan Bhavan’s principal secretary Rajendra Bhagwat said the itinerary would be finalised in a day or two.
The last study tour of 16 members of both houses was a 14-day one to Australia, New Zealand and Singapore in May 2017.
