Ruckus in assembly
BHUBANESWAR: The proceedings of the state assembly were washed out for the third straight day on Monday with members of both the treasury and opposition benches sticking to their respective demands and continuing with their protests in the well of the house.
While BJD MLAs demanded an apology from Deogarh MLA Subash Chandra Panigrahi (BJP) for his suicide attempt on the floor of the house, the opposition BJP and Congress continued to protest over the alleged irregularities in the procurement of paddy.
The important discussions of various departments and other crucial businesses could not be taken as members of both the sides started protesting as soon as the House assembled at 10.30am. Chaos forced speaker SN Patro to adjourn the house repeatedly both in the pre and post-lunch sessions.
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.