Logjam continues in Odisha Assembly

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Sep 22:

Logjam continued to prevail on the second day of the monsoon session in Odisha Assembly as BJD members shouted slogans and Congress MLAs created ruckus forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House till 3 PM.

As soon as the House assembled for the day, the ruling party members shouted slogans over Mahanadi and Polavaram issues.

Moments later, several Congress legislators including party chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati rushed to the Well of the House and created ruckus.

Unable to run the House, Speaker Niranjan Pujari adjourned the Assembly till 3 PM.

Following the adjournment, BJD MLAs staged a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statute on the Assembly premises over Mahanadi and Polavaram issues with banners and placards in their hands.

“The Speaker’s partiality towards the ruling party is clearly visible. This is condemnable. We had demanded resignation of the Chief Minister as he has failed to run the House. Today I tried to draw the attention of the Speaker towards cancellation of the Question Hour and holding discussion over the Mahanadi matter. But the Speaker didn’t give me permission to speak in the House,” said Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra.

The House had witnessed similar scenes yesterday as it was adjourned twice after BJD members resorted to sloganeering over the two issues.