BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Assembly again witnessed noisy scenes on Monday as BJP members created ruckus in the House demanding the ouster of Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena over the Mahanga double murder case.
Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro had to adjourn the House first till 11.30 am, then 4 pm and finally up to 5 pm as the BJP members remained firm on their demand for the removal of Jena from the Cabinet and his expulsion from the House.
The saffron party MLAs trooped to the well of the House with placards urging the Speaker to disallow Jena from entering the Assembly as soon as the question hour started.
As pandemonium prevailed, the Speaker adjourned the house from 10.33 am to 11.30 am and several times thereafter till 5 pm.
The issue was raised during zero hour by Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja who demanded his ouster and arrest. Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Narasingha Mishra said that the Minister should come forward and cooperate in the investigation. As noisy scenes continued, the Speaker convened an all party meeting to resolve the issue.
Criticising the State Government for protecting the Minister, leader of the Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik told mediapersons that though the Minister is among the 13 accused persons who has been named in the FIR in the case, police is yet to initiate any action against him.
Naik said as per the Assembly book circular, the State government must establish the Minister’s innocence before he is allowed to enter the Assembly.
“How can an MLA be allowed to sit in the Assembly if he faces criminal charges?,” the leader of the Opposition asked and said the BJD had suspended a former minister Raghunath Mohanty from party on dowry torture charges.