BHUBANESWAR: The monsoon session of the Assembly was adjourned on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule, amidst noisy scenes by the BJP members demanding Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s statement in the House terming the Opposition as ‘anti-people’ should be expunged.
The BJP members also demanded that the suspension of two party MLAs Mohan Majhi and Mukesh Mahaling from the House be revoked. They were on their feet raising slogans against the remark made by the chief minister as soon as the House assembled for the day. The members trooped into the well as soon as speaker Pramila Mallik started the question hour. The House was adjourned till 4 pm as the BJP members did not relent on their demands.
Majhi and Mahaling were on Thursday suspended for the rest of the session for throwing dal at the speaker’s podium while staging a protest in the well of the House. However, the session could be taken up only for a day as Opposition members stalled the proceedings for one reason or the other. Only eight starred questions out of the 770 asked by the members could be discussed. Besides, the House did not take up any adjournment motion for discussion. Two adjournment motions allowed by the speaker could not be taken up for discussion due to the noisy scenes.
Thirteen bills were passed without any discussion which included the supplementary appropriation bill, 2023. Both BJP and Congress have criticised the state government for closing the session a day ahead of schedule and alleged that it is running away from discussing real issues. Leader of the Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra said though the Opposition wanted discussion on several issues, they were not allowed. He said that the monsoon session was one of the most unproductive in the history of the Assembly.
Stating that the decision was undemocratic, CLP leader Narasingh Mishra alleged that bills were passed without discussion. Besides, people’s issues were not taken up for discussion in the midst of mudslinging between members, he added.