Oil price hike stalls debate on flyover
BHUBANESWAR: The House on Saturday could not discuss an adjournment motion notice on ‘Bomikhal flyover collapse’ given by the Opposition Congress members as the Assembly witnessed noisy scenes over hike in prices of diesel and petrol following which Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat adjourned it till 3 pm.The question hour almost passed off peacefully. But two minutes before the conclusion of the question hour, Congress members wearing aprons having paintings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmemdra Pradhan rushed to the well of the House to protest fuel price hike. BJD members were also seen protesting rise in the price of petrol and diesel from their seats.
This led BJP members to allege outside the House that Congress and ruling BJD members joined hands to scuttle the possibility of a discussion in the House on the Bomikhal flyover collapse. Rabi Narayan Nayak (BJP) alleged that though the Congress had moved an adjournment motion notice on the flyover collapse incident, it later joined hands with the BJD to disrupt the proceedings of the House. “It appears that BJD and Congress reached an understanding to protect Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who holds the Works portfolio,” he said.
However, Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra strongly refuted the BJP charge. “Congress members went to the well when the Speaker called the Government Chief Whip to speak by overlooking me (Leader of the Opposition),” Mishra said and added that adjourning the House till 3 pm was betrayal.
The Speaker could have adjourned the House by 10 to 15 minutes, so that the issue could have been discussed. After the House reassembled, Mishra alleged that only small fishes have been arrested in the flyover incident.
Demanding probe into the incident by an independent agency, he said this could throw light on the conspiracy part and the alleged investment in the Panda Infra Project Limited by a former BJD minister, who is now a legislator.Stating that the Chief Minister and Secretary in the Works Department are answerable for the mishap, Mishra said inquiry into the incident should not have been entrusted to the department engineers.