BHUBANESWAR: Stalemate in the State Assembly continued for the second day with a determined Opposition stalling the proceedings over their demand for ouster of Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra and restriction on his entry to the House.
As the House assembled, members of BJP and Congress holding placards and banners rushed to the well of the Assembly and shouted slogans against the government over the Mamita Meher murder case. Sensing the mood of the Opposition, Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro adjourned the house till 4 pm and later for the day. It was no different in the afternoon when the House re-assembled. It could not transact any business due to the pandemonium.
Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Charan Majhi told media persons that the Speaker is acting under pressure from the ruling BJD. Stating that the party does not see any fair-play in management of the House, he said BJP will continue the protest till the Minister is sacked and the murder case handed over to the CBI. The party leaders had earlier said that the normal functioning of the Assembly would depend on neutrality of the Speaker.
Questioning the motive of the Speaker behind adjourning the House for over five hours, Majhi said the former could have adjourned the Assembly for an hour as was the practice. “We have given an adjournment notice for discussion on deteriorating law and order situation in the State. Since the Speaker does not want it to be discussed, he adjourned the house till 4 pm in one go. This clearly indicates that the Speaker is conducting the House as per the instruction of the BJD government,” he remarked.
The Congress leaders also accused the Speaker of playing into the hands of the ruling BJD. MLA Taraprasad Bahinpati said the treasury benches are not interested in a discussion on the contentious issue. It is always the job of the ruling party to ensure the smooth functioning of the Assembly but the BJD is trying to escape the debate to save its face, he said.
A delegation of Congress legislators led by leader of the legislature party Narsingha Mishra met DGP Abhay and demanded that the Mamita murder case be investigated by a special investigation team monitored by a sitting judge of the Orissa High Court.
In a counter move, BJD MLAs staged a dharna near Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises of the Odisha Assembly protesting the hike in LPG prices. Party MLA Pratap Keshari Deb slammed the BJP for deliberately stalling the House to avoid discussion on other important issues like price hike of petroleum products, minimum support price for paddy which will backfire on them.