Ruckus in Odisha Assembly for second day, House adjourned till 1600 hrs

Bhubaneswar: Ruling BJD and opposition BJP have stalled the business of the Odisha Assembly for the second day on Tuesday on their demands, forcing Speaker Pramila Mallick to adjourn the house till 1600 hours without transacting any business.
The Speaker first adjourned the House at 1031 hrs till 12 PM and convened an all-party meeting to resolve the impasse.
The house was later adjourned till 1205 hrs and again from 1207 hrs till 1600 hrs as the house witnessed a ruckus with the BJP and BJD members shouting slogans in support of their demands.
Due to the protest, the question hour and zero hour business could not be taken up. The notice given by the Opposition Congress for a debate in the form of an adjournment motion on primary education also could not be taken up.
As soon as the house assembled for the day at 1030 hours to take up the question hour, the BJP members wearing black badges trooped into the well of the house, rushed to the Speaker’s podium, and shouted slogans, disrupting the proceedings.
The BJP members protested against the rejection of their questions slated for Tuesday without assigning any reasons. On Monday, too, the BJP members protested and created a ruckus in the house against the rejection of their questions.
To counter the opposition BJP, the BJD members standing on their seats slammed the Union government for not hiking the MSP of paddy to Rs 2930 per quintal and alleged central negligence towards the state.
As the house plunged into a chaotic situation amid protests and counter-protests by the opposition BJP and the Treasury bench members, the Speaker adjourned the house from 1031 hrs till 1200 hrs.
The Speaker then called an all-party meeting to resolve the issue and adjourned the house for 5 minutes.
The all-party meeting remained inconclusive, and as soon as the house reassembled after the adjournment, the BJP members again rushed into the well and continued their agitation.
The treasury bench members also reiterated their demand for enhancing the MSP for paddy and raised slogans, leading to a furor in the house.
Amid sloganeering, the Speaker announced that she had asked the government Chief Whip and the Assembly Secretary to inquire why the questions were rejected and adjourned the house from 1207 hours to 1600 hours.
Outside the house, Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Majhi alleged that the questions raised by the members were rejected on Monday and Tuesday without assigning any reasons, as the government is scared to debate on these questions.
He said questions relating to the 5T Secretary, the Lower Suktel Project, the opening of IT colleges, and protests by various organisations were rejected as the government was afraid to discuss these issues in the house. The government, he said, wanted only to discuss filtered questions.
Majhi alleged that the Speaker is acting under the pressure of the government.
Government Chief Whip Prashant Munduli, on the other hand, accused the BJP of deliberately disrupting the proceedings of the house and not allowing the house to function.