Stalemate Over Paddy Procurement; Odisha Assembly Adjourned Till 4 PM

Bhubaneswar: The second phase of Budget session of Odisha Assembly witnessed a stormy start on Friday with Opposition BJP and Congress disrupting the House over the issue of paddy procurement from mandis.

The Opposition members threatened that they would not allow the House to function till the government purchases all paddy stocked in the mandis.

Amidst the Opposition uproar Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro first adjourned the House from 10.30 to 11.30 am. When the House met during the Zero Hour, Opposition again raised the issue of paddy procurement leading to stormy scenes in the well and House adjourned till 4 pm.

The Speaker directed Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain to make a statement in the House on the status of paddy procurement once the session resumes.

As soon as the House met today, BJP and Congress MLAs stormed the well of the House shouting slogans against the government for its failure to purchase paddy stock lying in mandis despite an assurance by the minister earlier.

Protest the delay in paddy procurement, the BJP MLA from Deogarh, Subash Chandra Panigrahi once again threatened self-immolation. In the first phase of Budget session the MLA had issued similar threats and staged dharna in the well of the House demanding streamlining of procurement process.

The irate members, Tara Prasad Bahinipati (cong) and Jay Narayan Mishra (BJP) tried to climb the Speaker’s podium to disrupt the proceedings.

Also Read: Odisha MLA Threatens Self-Immolation For Farmers’ Cause