BHUBANESWAR: The BJD joined the Congress in condemning the suspension of MLAs and their eviction from the well of the House by engaging police.
Stating that this is for the first time in the history of Odisha Assembly that police entered the House to deal with the Opposition, deputy leader of BJD legislature party Prasanna Acharya described the incident as rare and unprecedented. “Both the ruling party and Opposition are required for the smooth functioning of the Assembly. But this government likes to run the Assembly without the Opposition,” he remarked.
Taking strong exception to the Speaker’s decision, senior BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain said the regional party will never allow democracy to be killed in the House. “The excessive action of the Speaker has led to such a situation in the House. The chief minister and the Speaker should take the initiative to resolve the issue,” he said.
BJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra alleged that the police have become the handmaiden of the government. Stating that democracy has been murdered in Odisha, Patra said it is very unfortunate that police are being used to prevent BJD and Congress MLAs from entering the Assembly.
Criticising the government for putting up barricades to prevent entry of MLAs, Patra said the BJP is resorting to such lowly acts as it does not want to discuss the issues raised by the Opposition in the House.
Veteran Congress leader and former minister Narasingha Mishra also came down heavily on the BJP government for the suspension of all 14 party MLAs from the Assembly. Mishra told mediapersons that the BJP government adopted a rigid approach towards the issue of rising crimes against women being raised by the party. He said that the state government was not prepared to discuss the issue or agree to the demand for a House committee to probe the growing crimes against women in the state.