BHUBANESWAR: The stalemate continued through the last day of the Odisha Assembly on Thursday with the BJP and Congress members creating ruckus demanding a discussion on mining scam in the State by suspending the question hour. As the House assembled for the day, the Opposition members rushed into the well demanding a discussion on the issue and attempted to climb onto the Speaker podium. As Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro failed to pacify the members, he adjourned the House till 11.30 am and again till 4 pm as the noisy scenes continued.
The Speaker on Wednesday rejected an adjournment motion notice on mining scam from the Congress and refused to accept the BJP’s similar notice on Thursday. As a result of which, the Opposition members rushed into the well of the House protesting the decision. The Opposition MLAs also raised the issue of suicide of Dusmanta Das, a youth from Jagatsinghpur, due to medical negligence at the State’s premier SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. They held police responsible for Das committing suicide near the Assembly on Wednesday.
While the Opposition members stalled proceedings of the House, the ruling BJD members raised the issue of Central neglect and staged a dharna near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Assembly premises.
Alleging short supply of fertilisers by the Centre, the ruling party members demanded a hike in minimum support price (MSP) on paddy as per the recommendation of the MS Swaminathan Committee and Fasal Bima benefits for farmers of Odisha. While Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingh Mishra ridiculed BJD’s protest, several other Opposition members criticised the Speaker for ‘working for the government’. “BJD supports BJP in all issues at the Centre, but they are now holding a protest for MSP and Fasal Bima,” he added.
Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi criticised the Speaker for his decision. “We gave a new notice for an adjournment motion on the mining issues on Thursday. Nowhere in the notice, we mentioned about corruption. There is no justification for rejecting it,” he added. Senior Congress member Santosh Saluja also criticised the Speaker’s decision for trying to protect the government.