Bhubaneswar: the Odisha Assembly on Friday witnessed unruly scenes as Opposition BJD and Congress MLAs created a ruckus over alleged disrespect by the BJP government to Odisha’s stalwart Biju Patnaik.
The Speaker adjourned the proceedings till noon.
As soon as the House assembled for the Question Hour, the opposition members raised slogans against the Mohan Charan Majhi government and condemned its decision to observe Panchayati Raj Divas not on the birth anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik on March 5.
They alleged that the BJP government, in a bid to “erase the legacy of late Biju Patnaik, delinked the Panchayati Raj Divas celebrations from the Biju Jayanti.
The BJD members claimed that the Panchayati Divas had been observed on Biju Patnaik Jayanti since 1993.
The state government has decided to observe the Panchayati Raj Divas on April 24 as is done outside Odisha.
The government also cancelled the holiday on March 5 through an order.
Demanding withdrawal of the government’s decision, the opposition members raised slogans against the BJP dispensation and held placards in the House.
BJD member Adhiraj Panigrahi and senior Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati attempted to climb the Speaker’s podium and tried to break the microphone there.
Unable to run the proceedings, Speaker Surama Padhy adjourned the House till 12 noon.
The Congress members also staged a protest over alleged rise in crime against women in the state after the BJP government came to power in Odisha in June last year.
After the House was adjourned, the BJD members held a sit-in near Biju Patnaik’s statue while the Congress members staged a peaceful demonstration near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the assembly premises.
The second phase of the Budget Session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) began here on Friday. It is scheduled to continue till April 5.
