RANCHI: The second day of Jharkhand Assembly's monsoon session was marked by noisy scenes as opposition BJP members created an uproar demanding that the government declare the state as drought-hit, prompting the speaker to adjourn the proceedings, first till 12.30 pm and then till 2 pm.
As soon as the House assembled around 11 am on Monday, BJP members, donning traditional attire of farmers, trooped in the well of the House with their demand, disrupting Question Hour.
The ruckus increased manifold as Chief Minister Hemant Soren stepped inside the House.
Despite assurance from Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato and rural development minister Alamgir Alam that a special discussion is scheduled on the matter in the second half, the BJP MLAs continued the protest.
The speaker then adjourned the proceedings till 12.30 pm.
Later, as members sat for the proceedings for the second time at 12.35 pm, finance minister Rameshwar Oraon tabled a supplementary budget of Rs 3,436.56 crore for 2022-23 even as there was no let up in the protest by the saffron party legislators.
Unable to control the agitation, Mahto adjourned the House for a second time till 2 pm.
The speaker, during the start of the six-day monsoon session on July 29, had drawn the members' attention to the plight of farmers amid the drought-like situation owing to the scanty rainfall.
"The state's rainfall deficit is around 40 per cent. Of the 24 districts, 12 have received less than normal rainfall. When we sit for discussion on several issues, we have to include the issue of farmers' plight so that a meaningful solution can be reached in this House," he had said.