Winter Session Of Odisha Assembly Washed Out Over Mamita Meher Murder Case

Bhubaneswar: Unable to conduct the proceedings, Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro on Friday adjourned Odisha Assembly sine die, 20 days ahead of schedule.

Government chief whip Pramila Mallik moved the adjournment motion notice in the House, following which Opposition BJP and Congress members staged a walkout. The winter session of the Assembly began on December 1 and was scheduled to end on December 31. The House still had 17 official days.

Earlier in the day, the Speaker had to adjourn the proceedings twice with Opposition legislators continuing to create ruckus in the well of the House, holding placards and banging gongs as a mark of protest over Mamita Meher murder case and inaction against Minister of State (Home) Dibya Shankar Mishra.

Notably, no significant business has been undertaken in the House from its commencement day with protests, sloganeering, blocking of assembly gate, beating gongs and bells and sprinkling gangajal and cow dung for purification taking the centre stage.

The House ran for less than 2 hours during the nine days of the session with the Supplementary Budget of Rs 19,833 crore for 2021-22 being tabled on the first day and a resolution demanding the ‘First war of Independence’ status to the ‘Paika Bidroha’ being passed on December 7.

Both BJP and Congress have been demanding Mishra’s arrest and his removal from the council of ministers. The state government, however, has so far maintained that a former district judge is already inquiring into the matter and all should wait for the results of the inquiry.

Ahead of the winter session of the Assembly, the Speaker had warned the legislators of action if found creating ruckus in the House during Question Hour and Governor’s speech. However, the Mamita Meher case remained the central issue and the Opposition refused to budge from its demands for the ouster of the minister, which was also stopped from attending the session.

The BJD MLAs too resorted to sloganeering in the House, alleging reduction in allocation under the PMAY, protested against fuel price hike and rise in inflation.