Odisha Assembly adjourned till 3 PM; all-party meet on

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 22:

An all-party meet convened by Speaker Niranjan Pujari is currently on to find a way out of the logjam in the Odisha Assembly even as the House had to be adjourned till 3 pm amid pandemonium today.

The all-party meeting, which began at 12 PM, is being attended by Parliamentary Affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, chief whip of the Opposition Taraprasad Bahinipati, government chief whip and BJP state president KV Singhdeo.

As soon as the question hour session began today, Congress members, holding banners and wearing black badges, stood up on their seats and staged a silent protest.

However, the opposition BJP members trooped into the well of the House demanding a discussion on the strictures passed by the Odisha High Court and the Supreme Court on the Odisha government in the case filed by the stat vigilance against former DGP Prakash Mishra.

On the other hand, treasury bench members displayed banners with caricature of the Speaker saying they won’t tolerate the disrespect shown to the Speaker by the opposition members. They also raised slogans against the Centre for its gross apathy towards Odisha.

Unable to run the proceedings, the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 PM.

Talking to newsmen later, Congress member Prakash Behera said; “Since the High Court and the Supreme Court have given adverse remarks against the state government, we want a reply from the chief minister in this regard.”

Referring to the allegation of BJD members on disrespect to the Speaker, Behera said there is nothing wrong in displaying the cartoon of the Speaker in the House since it is in vogue in a democratic set up.

“We had displayed the cartoon of the Speaker in the House as he had disallowed a discussion on this issue. He is not giving proper justice to us,” he added.

Countering Behera’s contention, BJD member Debasis Samantray said as per rule, no member can bring any banner and placards to the House and make caricature of the ruling members and leaders.

“As the Opposition members have been making caricatures of the ruling members, we protested their action in the House today,” he said.