BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly on Saturday witnessed noisy scenes following a statement by deputy leader of the BJP Legislature Party (BJPLP) Bishnu Charan Sethi that it has become a fashion with the Congress leaders to criticise the Centre whenever a Central agency proceeds against a corrupt political leader.
Strongly protesting the statement of Sethi, Congress members rushed to the well of the house shouting slogans forcing Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha to adjourn the house for 10 minutes at 11.52 am and convene an all-party meeting. As the issue could not be resolved, he adjourned the house for 15 minutes and then till 4 pm.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Sethi said that two days back some members created ruckus in the house protesting against the summon issued by Enforcement Directorate (ED) to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case. The ED office here was also gheraoed in protest against questioning of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the same case.
The BJP leader said that the ED on Friday seized Rs 20 crore during a raid on the premises of Arpita Mukherjee, a close associate of West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the alleged teacher recruitment scam and also arrested the minister.
"This has proved that the allegations made by Opposition political parties that the Centre is indulging in vindictive politics and using the Central agencies like ED and CBI to intimidate and suppress the Opposition is not true," he added.
Stating that the Central agencies are operating independently and not at the behest of the Centre, the BJP leader urged the Speaker not to allow discussion on any such issues in the house in future.
Reacting to the statement, Tara Prasad Bahinipati (Congress) alleged that the BJP is indulging in vindictive politics and deliberately harassing the Opposition leaders by misusing the Central agencies like ED and CBI.
On the other hand, the BJP has violated all democratic traditions in Assam and Maharashtra by misusing money power, he added.
Congress member Santosh Singh Saluja also targeted the Centre for using the ED for repeatedly interrogating Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. He challenged the government to interrogate people like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi if it has courage.