BHUBANESWAR: Despite expressing serious concern and protestations over the acute fertiliser crisis in the state, the Opposition BJD and Congress could not come together to discuss the issue in the Assembly on Friday.
Speaker Surama Padhy had allowed discussion on an adjournment motion brought by the Congress members on the issue after the question hour. However, BJD members created a ruckus in the well of the House right from the beginning of question hour, demanding a day-long discussion on shortage of fertilisers and the problems faced by the farmers.
Amid the chaos, the Speaker had to adjourn the House from 10.34 am till 4 pm and then till 10.30 am on Saturday as the BJD members continued sloganeering in the well. Her repeated requests to the agitating members to return to their seats fell on deaf ears. After the House was adjourned, senior Congress legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that the ruling BJP and BJD had joined hands to bail out the government by not allowing discussion on such a serious matter.
“The Congress members did not go to the well of the House. They were on their seats demanding that the discussion on fertiliser shortage be held,” he said.
Bahinipati said the Congress members would also have raised the issue of no-confidence motion during zero hour. But the BJD and BJP came together to save the government from an embarrassing situation during the zero hour, he added.
Congress member Ashok Das also expressed surprise over BJD’s action and said they could have discussed the matter through an adjournment motion. Instead, the latter ensured that the House was adjourned only to protect the government, he alleged.
Justifying the decision of the BJD to demand a day-long discussion by suspending all business which led to the ruckus in the House, deputy leader of Opposition Prasanna Acharya said through an adjournment motion, the issue could have been discussed for just two to three hours. “The minister would have given a reply of five to 10 minutes to end the matter. We wanted a day-long discussion on the issue which the government did not agree,” he said.
Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik said the BJD members were forced to stage the agitation in the well as the government continues to ignored the plight of the farmers. “We demanded a full-fledged discussion on the issue as farmers comprise 60 per cent of the state’s population. A discussion of only one hour would not have done justice to the serious matter,” she said.