Opposition Stages Walkout During Guv’s Address In Odisha Assembly
February 21
Tuesday’s budget session of the Odisha Assembly got off to a turbulent start when members of the opposition BJP and Congress created a ruckus over the murder of minister Naba Das and staged a walkout during the governor’s speech.
Narasingha Mishra, the leader of the Congress legislature party, raised the issue of the murder of minister Naba Das as soon as the House convened for the day. He demanded to know what steps the government had taken to protect Assembly members and the general public following the minister’s death.
The Congress MLAs rushed to the Speaker’s podium as soon as Governor Ganeshi Lal began speaking, raising slogans against the government over the murder case and allegedly deteriorating law and order situation. Additionally, some Congressmen occupied a “dharna” in the House well.
Joining Congress, members of the BJP also rushed to the House well and caused a commotion over the matter.
BJP MLAs first skipped the Governor’s speech and staged a walkout because neither the Governor nor Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukh pay any attention to their complaints. The BJP lawmakers set up a “dharna” at the House entrance while holding placards.
Congressmen also staged a walkout from the House after a short while. Later, both Opposition parties entered the House and took part in the obituary references that were passed following the deaths of the Minister Naba Das and two former members of the legislature, Gangadhar Das and Arjun Charan Das.
Leader of the opposition Jayanarayan Mishra alleged that the murder was a government-sponsored crime. He further added, “It is necessary to check the call logs of Jajpur MLA Pranab Prakash Das and Secretary to the CM (5T) V.K. Pandian. They ought to be included in the scope of the investigation.”
We are demanding a CBI investigation into the murder case because Odisha police cannot review their call logs, he said.
Notably, the Odisha Assembly’s budget session, which started today, will continue till April 6.
Niranjan Pujari, the state’s minister of finance, will present the annual budget for 2023–24 on February 24. General discussion of the budget will begin on February 27 according to a schedule provided by the Assembly secretariat. The appropriation bill will be laid before the House on March 31.
