BHUBANESWAR: The Opposition Congress members on Friday staged a walkout in the Assembly protesting the alleged use of money and muscle power and misuse of administrative machinery and police by the BJD to sweep panchayat polls.
The issue cropped up during discussion on the admissibility of an adjournment motion notice brought by the Opposition members. Leading the walkout, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh said democracy is in grave danger as such an election was never seen in the State.
His party colleagues Surendra Paramanik, Debi Prasanna Chand, Gobardhan Dash and Ramchandra Kadam apart from Pratap Sarangi (Ind) alleged that there were large-scale irregularities during the polls. Making a statement, Panchayati Raj Minister Maheswar Mohanty rejected the allegations of the Opposition. He described the charges as false and motivated. The five-phase polls were conducted in a peaceful manner. The Minister said the SEC was provided with adequate police force to maintain law and order during the polls. The State Government had no role in it, he said.