Oppn Slams Govt Over Odisha Assembly Abrupt Closure

Bhubaneswar: Curtailment of the winter session of Odisha Assembly has sparked off a furore, with the Opposition BJP and Congress accusing the ruling BJD of avoiding the legislature and debate on key topics.

“The Speaker announced sine die closure of the Winter Session in the most undemocratic and unconstitutional manner under pressure from the ruling party, which wants to avoid discussion on important issues,” BJP legislator Bishnu Charan Sethy told a media conference here on Friday.

The Congress also slammed the state government, saying it was “killing democracy”. “The Winter Session had only 13 sitting days. It was supposed to continue till December 19. Did the Speaker not know that there was inadequate legislative business to continue the session when he decided on the end date?” asked Congress Taraprasad Bahinipati.

The Odisha Assembly should mandatorily sit for a minimum of 60 days in a calendar year, but it is not doing so at alarming frequency. In 2019, it sat for 50 days spanning three sessions of the 15^th and 16^th Assembly.

The Opposition attack came a day after Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro adjourned the Winter Session sine die 21 days ahead of schedule.  Consequently, the Opposition got on the attacking mode saying it could not take up a host of issues concerning the state and the public.

Government chief whip Pramilla Mallick, however, defended the Speaker’s decision. “There was not much legislative business, hence the House was closed sine die. It was done in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in OLA. Where is the illegality? There is nothing undemocratic when the rule has been followed,” she said.