BHUBANESWAR: While the suspension of 12 Congress MLAs drew strong condemnation from the Opposition, the ruling BJP justified the Speaker’s action saying she was left with no other choice to protect parliamentary democracy.
Senior BJP leader and Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra told mediapersons that the Congress legislators had crossed all limits of unruly behaviour.
“The Opposition members have every right to protest in the Assembly but it should be in a democratic manner. They have been stalling the House from the start of the budget session without any reason. The Speaker made sincere efforts to bring normalcy by constantly engaging with them but every overture was deliberately thwarted by the latter,” he said.
The Speaker convened all-party meetings five times to discuss the demands of the Opposition. Decisions taken at the all-party meeting were not adhered to by the Congress members. “If any member or members behave in a grossly disorderly manner, the Speaker has to act as per the rule of procedure and conduct of business,” Mishra said.
Housing and Urban Development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said the Opposition members have been doing this since the start of the budget session. “The people have sent us to the Assembly to address their problems. If they (Opposition) continue to disrupt the proceedings, how can we solve their problems?” he questioned.
Echoing similar sentiment, BJP MLA from Ekamra-Bhubaneswar Babu Singh, a first-time legislator, said the Opposition members were deliberately disrupting the Assembly proceedings. “Each day of the Assembly session costs the government Rs 70 lakh, which is public money. The Opposition continues to stall discussions instead of addressing crucial public concerns. We have come here to discuss and debate, and pass legislation in the interest of the people but the Opposition has others plans in their mind,” Singh rued.