Odisha Assembly adjourned amid uproar till 3 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 20:

The Odisha Assembly was adjourned till 3 PM today following an uproar by the Opposition Congress and BJP members.

As soon as the House assembled, Speaker Niranjan Pujari directed the commencement of question hour session.

Protesting the directive of the Speaker, the Congress and BJP members reiterated their demand for a discussion on the issue of former DGP Prakash Mishra. But as the Speaker rejected their demands, the opposition members rushed to the well of the House waving banners and placards with slogans against the government written on them.

The reply by the School and Mass Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra was inaudible in the din. Unable to run the House, the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 PM.

Congress and BJP members had told the media yesterday that they would stick to their demands for a discussion on the Prakash Mishra issue in the House.

While the House could run for only two minutes yesterday, it was adjourned today just a minute after proceeedings began.

“The government is not willing to have a discussion on the Prakash Mishra issue as it would expose its modus operandi. While the Odisha High Court and the Supreme Court have given their adverse remarks against the government for its vindictive action against an honest officer, it is quite clear that the chief minister had tried his best to punish Mishra since he had not agreed to work for the party in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections”, Congress member Naba Das told the media.

“We had earlier requested the Speaker for a discussion on Nabakalebara bungling. But as Prakash Mishra case is a major issue and needs to be discussed in the House, we also demand a discussion in this regard,” said BJP member Pradip Purohit.

Countering the allegations of the opposition members, BJD member Samir Das said as per rules, there is no provision for discussion about a person who is not a member of the House. Justifying his contention, he said while the Lok Sabha Speaker had allowed the opposition Congress for a discussion on Sushma Swaraj since she is a Member of Parliament, she did not allow a discussion on Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Chouhan as they are not the member of the lower house.

“The opposition should participate in the discussion on major issues like drought and block grant teachers in the House. Instead of doing that, they are unnecessarily disrupting House proceedings by raking up Prakash Mishra issue,” he added.