Bhubaneswar: The Congress legislators have boycotted the Odisha Assembly over party MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati's suspension from the House for seven days over a scuffle with the ruling BJP members.

They have decided to continue the boycott till the withdrawal of the suspension and stage a sit-in near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises of the Odisha Assembly to press their demands.

On the other hand, the BJD has extended its support to the Congress in this matter. Opposing the suspension, MLAs of the BJD today met Speaker Surama Padhy urging cancellation of the order.

"The Speaker should have examined the incident deeply before passing the suspension order. We requested the Speaker to reconsider the decision. We are awaiting the Speaker's next move," said BJD MLA Prasanna Acharya.

Notably, the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday witnessed unruly scenes as a scuffle ensued between the ruling and opposition members. During the Question Hour, BJD and Congress MLAs rushed to the well of the House and resorted to sloganeering, holding placards. The BJD and Congress members were staging protests against the controversial statement of BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra over Koshal’s merger with Odisha and rising crime against women in the state, respectively.

The chaos escalated when some of them tried to climb atop the podium of Speaker Surama Padhy. Furthermore, a scuffle broke out between the ruling and opposition members, during which a physical confrontation reportedly took place between Tara Prasad Bahinipati and Jayanarayan Mishra.

Bahinipati was suspended for his alleged “misconduct and unruly behaviour” after a notice was moved by government chief whip Saroj Kumar Pradhan.