Bhubaneswar Congress MLAs on Monday stormed the well of the House, shouting slogans, and later staged a walkout as Speaker Surama Padhy dismissed the party’s no-confidence motion notice against the Mohan Majhi-led BJP government in Odisha.
According to sources, the Speaking rejected the no-trust motion, citing procedural errors and lack of time due to repeated disruptions. September 19 was the deadline for accepting the motion.
A delegation of Congress MLAs and the lone CPM MLA Laxman had given notice for the motion on the opening day of the Monsoon Session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, in an attempt to put the ruling BJP on the defensive through long hours of debate, despite posing no real threat due to its limited strength in the House.
In the 147-member House, the Congress has 14 MLAs and the support of one CPI(M) legislator. The BJD, which had won 51 seats in the last Assembly election, is now reduced to 50 following the death of its Nuapada MLA. The BJP, however, remains comfortably placed with 78 members, backed by three independents.
While the first day of the monsoon session of Assembly on Thursday was adjourned after obituary references to Rajendra Dholakia, who was the Nuapada MLA, and six other former members, pandemonium prevailed on the following two days as the BJD continued its protest over the fertiliser crisis in the state.
The Odisha Assembly was adjourned till 4 pm again barely seven minutes after it assembled on Monday as opposition legislators continued to create a ruckus.
