BHUBANESWAR: Opposition BJP and Congress members on Monday disrupted the Assembly proceedings by creating noisy scenes and sat on dharna on the premises demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the increasing number of missing children and rape incidents.
As a result, no business could be transacted after the question hour.
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The issue, raised by the Opposition members during Zero Hour, continued in the afternoon session also as the Government did not respond to the demand that the Chief Minister should make a statement in the House.
The House witnessed several adjournments and the demand for grants of the SC and ST Development Department had to be passed in the absence of the Opposition members as the deadlock did not end despite Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro convening an all-party meeting.
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This was for the first time during the ongoing session that the BJP and Congress members raised the same issue to corner the government in the House.
The two parties raised different issues on previous days which helped the ruling BJD though a majority of the members were not present till July 20 because of election to Patkura Assembly seat.
Raising the issue, Leader of the Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik alleged that the state government has failed to check the increasing trend of rape of minor girls as well as disappearance of children.
More than 6,000 girls and boys have gone missing from the State in four years and 40 per cent of them remain untraced, said Naik. He suspected that these missing children were being used in flesh trade or organ trade.
The BJP MLA also raised the issue of the alleged sexual assault of an HIV infected girl at a shelter home in Bhawanipatna and the gang-rape of an eight-year-old girl in Angul.
Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingh Mishra also raised the issue and held the state government responsible for the disappearance of a large number of children. He said though the issue was raised earlier, the Chief Minister claimed that the State was peaceful and the rape accused were arrested.
“If the law and order situation is all right in the state as claimed by the Chief Minister, how could the number of rape cases increase to 2500 in 2018 from 2200 cases in 2017?” Mishra asked.
Congress members then rushed to the well shouting slogans and demanding resignation of the Chief Minister over the issue. They were soon joined by the BJP members.
BJP MLAs including party’s lone woman lawmaker Kusum Tete attempted to climb the Speaker’s podium.
Though the Speaker directed the state government to make a statement in the House in this regard, the members continued to demonstrate in the well.
This led to several adjournments in the pre and post-lunch sessions. Later in the afternoon, the BJP members sat on a dharna in the well while Congress members sat near the Gandhi statue on the premises.