BHUBANESWAR: In a rare gesture, Speaker of Odisha Assembly Surya Narayan Patro on Tuesday expressed regret for adjourning the House on Monday when Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik was speaking on the death of a woman panchayat official in Jajpur district under mysterious circumstances.
The decision of the Speaker had irked the BJP members who were on a five-day protest demanding a CBI probe into the lady VLW’s death. “I could not understand what the Leader of Opposition was saying on Monday. I feel sorry for that. I had no intention to debar him from speaking in the House,” Patro said during the zero hour.
With this, the acrimony between the Opposition BJP members and the Speaker ended on a sweet note and the BJP MLAs took part in the discussion. While the Opposition BJP welcomed the Speaker’s gesture, the treasury bench members were surprised with the development. The Speaker, however, said “A mistake is a mistake. If anyone commits mistake, there should be no hesitation in saying sorry.”
Welcoming the Speaker’s gesture, Naik said it is his duty to protect the rights of the members, particularly those belonging to the Opposition. As part of the protest, BJP members had trooped into the well of the House, covered their mouths with black scarves inside the House, staged dharna near Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises and submitted a memorandum to the Governor while demanding a CBI probe into the lady VLW’s death.
The BJP members claimed that she was raped and subsequently killed and the State Government was trying to suppress the case as some local ruling party leaders were involved in the crime. Naik, however, criticised the ruling BJD and State Government for their undemocratic attitude. Quoting former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, Naik said, "You may run the Government with absolute majority, but you cannot run the House by ignoring the Opposition."
The Leader of the Opposition reiterated BJP’s demand of CBI probe into the woman panchayat official’s death, action against Jajpur SP for allegedly maligning the character of the woman, removal of the Chairperson of Odisha State Commission of Women and registration of case under Section 302 (murder) of IPC instead of 306 (abetment).
Naik also alleged that arrested Rupesh Bhadra was receiving huge amount of money from a private company. He also demanded arrest of all the five persons present in the private guest house where the victim’s body was found.