Odisha Assembly In Furore, Logjam Continues After All-Party Meeting; Adjourned Till 4PM

Bhubaneswar: The Opposition BJD and Congress continued to create ruckus as the Odisha Assembly assembly again at 11.30 am on Wednesday.

Unable to conduct the proceedings, Speaker Surama Padhi adjourned the House till noon and called for an all-party meeting the resolve the impasse. The proceedings were later halted till 4 pm as the meeting yielded no results.

The Speaker had earlier adjourned the House till 11.30 am as BJD MLAs staged a walkout over ‘inaction’ against Governor Raghubar Das’ son for allegedly assaulting an Assistant Section Officer earlier this month and Congress MLAs created ruckus alleging neglect of Odisha in Union Budget 2024.

The Opposition has been accusing the Mohan Majhi government of shielding the Governor’s son in the assault of a government official from Odisha while taking about Odia ‘asmita‘ (pride).

Earlier speaking to the media, BJD MLA Kalikesh Singh Deo said that they are disappointed with the way the new government is functioning. “Why is the business advisory meeting not being convened to resolve the impasse. Why is government not making a statement on the issue in the House? The House is supreme and this is what holds the government accountable to the people of Odisha. There is a lack of respect on the part of the government for Odisha Assembly and its proceedings,” he told reporters.

He further claimed that no effort is being made by the government to run the House, fearing that its trouble would mount once the proceedings starts. “There are a lot of issues including price rise and Centre’s neglect of Odisha as was evident in the Union Budget in which the state got nothing substantial despite sending 20 BJP MPs to Lok Sabha. The government is afraid of any discussion on these issues. Being a regional party, interest of Odisha is paramount for us,” he said.

The legislator added that the BJD would boycott the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s Address.

He, however, clarified that they would take part in the Deputy speaker election as per the tradition of the House.

It is for the the third consecutive day that Assembly is witnessing  pandemonium.

While the the first session of the 17th Odisha Assembly started on a stormy note with both BJD and Congress boycotting Governor Raghubar Das’s address to the House on Monday, the Assembly was adjourned twice on Tuesday following chaos over the same demand.

The BJD also questioned as to why Puri collector was entrusted with the task of probing the alleged assault case. “What will the SP, DSP and other police officials do when the Puri district collector has been asked to probe a criminal case?”

Assistant Section Officer Baikuntha Pradhan was allegedly assaulted by Governor’s son Lalit Kumar at Puri Raj Bhavan, where he was posted to supervise preparations for President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the coastal temple town during Rath Yatra, on July 7. After the alleged incident, Pradhan was transferred to the home department. Though complaint in this regard has been lodged at the Sea Beach police station in Puri, but no action has been taken against the accused.