Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly Speaker Surya Narayan Patro today adjourned the House after the Opposition created a ruckus over the Mamita Meher murder case and law and order situation in the state.
The BJP hit back, saying that the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government was trying to avoid a discussion on the Mamita Meher issue.
“The BJP moved an adjournment notice over the law and order situation. But the Speaker adjourned the House to evade a discussion. Speaker’s decision was purely due to pressure from the ruling government. We demand a CBI probe into Mamita’s murder and dismissal of Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra,” Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi said.
On the second day of the Winter Session, when the House assembled at 10.30 am, both BJP and Congress members created a ruckus over the issue. Opposition members rushed to the Speaker’s podium and raised their demands.
Patro appealed to them to maintain order in the House. Unable to run the proceedings smoothly, the Speaker adjourned the House till 4 pm.
The BJD accused the Opposition of playing politics and skirting the main issues.
“The BJD always raises public issues, mass issues. The Opposition wants to raise only one issue. They don’t want to discuss anything other than the Mamita Meher murder case and law and order. They are creating ruckus and not allowing House proceedings. They are only playing politics. It’s a well-planned strategy by the Opposition,” said BJD MLA Pratap Keshari Deb.
“There are other issues affecting people. MSP, banking, telephone, gas prices. But the Opposition wants to avoid these issues. The Opposition wants to skirt the main issues,” he added.
Meanwhile, BJD legislators staged a protest in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside the Assembly over the steep hike in prices of cooking gas.
“The Centre has turned a deaf ear despite frequent demands to reduce LPG prices,” said BJD leader and government chief whip Pramila Mallick.
“We have presented a memorandum to the President of India and repeatedly reminded the Centre of our demand to lower gas prices,” she added.
