BJP and Congress MLAs protest in front of the speaker
BHUBANESWAR: The BJP and Congress legislators on Friday stalled assembly proceedings over mandi mismanagement and irregularities in paddy procurement, leading to repeated adjournments throughout the day.
As soon as the house assembled for the day, the opposition MLAs rushed to the well and started shouting slogans against the government. The BJP MLAs also displayed banners accusing the state government as anti-farmer. Unable to run the proceedings, speaker Surya Narayan Patro first adjourned the house till 11:30 am and later till 4 pm. The opposition members continued to protests when the house re-assembled in the post-lunch session. Some even tried to climb atop the speaker’s podium. The deadlock continued even as Patro convened an all-party meeting and gave direction to state food supplies and consumer welfare minister Ranendra Pratap Swain to make a statement in the house on Saturday over the status of paddy procurement.