BHUBANESWAR: The Opposition onslaught against the State government over mismanagement in paddy procurement and farmers’ problems took an extreme turn in the Odisha Assembly on Friday with BJP MLA from Deogarh, Subash Chandra Panigrahi attempting suicide by consuming sanitiser in the House.
The incident took place during the post lunch session when Minister for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Ranendra Pratap Swain was making a statement on paddy procurement by the State government. Panigrahi whipped out a sanitiser bottle and attempted to drink it but was prevented by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha and some other MLAs, who were nearby.
Later, he justified the suicide attempt by stating that there was no other option as the State government has turned a deaf ear to the demands of the farmers. “People are asking what are you doing when farmers are committing suicide. So, it is better to die,” he said and added that paddy has not been procured in all the 29 primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS) in Deogarh district.
The BJP MLA told mediapersons outside the House that the State government would have been fully responsible if anything had happened to him. Earlier, BJP and Congress members created ruckus during the question hour over alleged mismanagement in paddy procurement across the State. The members rushed to the well of the House as soon as it assembled for the day at 10.30 am. Unable to run the proceedings, Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro had to adjourn the House at 11.30 am and several times thereafter.
Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingha Mishra told mediapersons that the government has cheated people by not lifting paddy from different mandis despite making an announcement in this regard in the House. Congress whip Taraprasad Bahinipati said, “We will not allow the House to function till all paddy is procured from farmers in the State. The Speaker should give a ruling for immediate paddy procurement,” he said.
BJP members also raised the same issue and joined the Congress members in the well of the House in support of the demand for immediate procurement of paddy in different mandis. Making a statement in the House, the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister said that till February 26, over 57.67 lakh tonne paddy was procured from 10.53 lakh registered farmers. Till today, 60.4 lakh tonne paddy has been procured from 11.25 lakh registered farmers. He said that 2.73 lakh tonne paddy has been procured from 70,000 more farmers during the period between February 26 and March 12. He requested the MLAs to submit list of genuine farmers whose paddy is yet to be procured. Their paddy will be procured after investigation, he said.