Pravash Pradhan
Post News Network
New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs have performed well in the winter session of Parliament that came to an end Wednesday, according to a PRS legislative research report.
Nine BJD MPs had 100 per cent attendance in the Lower House, which had 20 sittings spread over 117 hours and 20 minutes. Puri MP Pinaki Misra had the lowest attendance percentage in the winter session, which was marked by uproar and repeated adjournments.
The session began well with MPs discussing the role of the Constitution during special sittings on two days — November 26 and 27 — that marked the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar. However, later the opposition Congress tried to stall the House on the issues of tolerance and the controversy over National Herald.
BJD MPs Bhartruhari Mahatab, Tathagata Satpathy, Balabhadra Majhi, Rabindra Kumar Jena, Prabhas Kumar Singh, Rita Tarai, Sakuntala Laguri, Baijayant Panda, Nagendra Kumar Pradhan, and Ladu Kishore Swain had raised several issues concerning Orissa vociferously inside and outside Parliament. These included the Polavaram irrigation project.
A delegation of BJD MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to announce a package of `2,200 crore for drought-hit farmers of the state and seeking his intervention in halting the construction work of Polavaram dam. BJD MPs also demanded that the Bharat Ratna be conferred on the late Biju Patnaik.
The Prime Minister has assured the MPs that he would look into their request on Polavaram. However, some BJD members are sceptical about the outcome of the meeting as the Andhra Pradesh government is pushing hard to get central funds released and to start the construction work on the dam.
Keojhar MP Sakuntala Laguri and Jajpur MP Rita Tarai were seen speaking in Oriya while participating in the debates in the Lower House.
BJD leaders such as Satpathy and Mahatab had participated the most in debates on national issues such as rising incidents of intolerance in the country, the drought in various parts of the country, including Orissa, and price rise.
With regard to Private Members’ Business is concerned, 117 Bills on different subjects were introduced during the session in the Lower House. However, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s proposal to introduce the “Indian Penal Code Amendment Bill 2015” in the Lok Sabha was defeated in a division of votes. Satpathy urged the House to consider the Bill on decriminalising homosexuality for debate and termed it “a sad day for the country” when the Bill was not introduced.
As many as nine government bills were introduced during the current session in the Lok Sabha.
The productivity of the Rajya Sabha in terms of hours was as low as 46 per cent during the winter session, but BJD MPs in the Upper House were trying to draw the attention of the House to the Palavaram issue. BJD MPs such as Anubhab Mohanty, Bhupinder Singh and Dilip Tirkey shouted slogans in the well of the House against the Centre’s apathy towards Orissa on Polavaram. Congress MP Ranjib Biswal joined the BJD members in the Upper House in their protest on the Polavaram issue.