BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly on Friday witnessed noisy scenes and was adjourned twice till afternoon as opposition Congress and BJP members demonstrated in the well of the House over distress sale of tomatoes in the State.Several Congress and BJP members rushed to the well of the House shouting slogans against the State Government over the issue as the question hour started. The Assembly was adjourned till 11.30 am after two minutes when Housing & Urban Development and Water Resources Minister Niranjan Pujari was replying to a question.
The chaos prevailed after the House reassembled at 11.30 am as opposition members again raised slogans and created ruckus following which Speaker Pradip Amat adjourned the House till 3 pm. Criticising the Government for neglecting the farm sector, Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra alleged that though the State Government has been claiming that it has done everything for farmers, the cultivators are forced to opt for distress sale of their produces due to lack of proper marketing infrastructure. There should be a discussion on the issue as farmers are committing suicide due to distress sale of their produces, he added.
Leader of the BJP Legislature Party KV Singhdeo said instead of giving a helping hand to the farmers, the Government has been creating problems for them. “The State Government has failed to create marketing provision for agricultural produces for which the farmers are suffering,” BJP MLA Rabi Naik said outside the house.
However, the opposition Congress and BJP came in for criticism from the ruling BJD for disrupting the House proceedings on the day of the presentation of budget. “The move of the Opposition members on a day when the budget is scheduled to be tabled is not acceptable. The issue could have been raised by them after the Question Hour, during Zero Hour,” BJD MLA Sanjay Dasburma said.