Bhubaneswar: Despite BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s injunctions to party MLAs to attend proceedings in the house without fail, the treasury benches in the Assembly Tuesday witnessed empty seats during the debate on farmers’ issue.
Before the beginning of the winter session, the CM had asked party MLAs to remain present in the house during the session and actively participate in debates. The CM had said he would review the attendance of his MLAs, especially performance of the first-timers. However, it seemed the BJD members are in no mood to follow their supremo’s fiat.
The Assembly was nearly full at 10.30 am when the house began for the day. The members including ministers were there in the house till the completion of the Question Hour (10.30 am – 11.30 am) and Zero Hour (11.30 am to 12.30 pm). Soon after the completion of the Zero Hour, members, especially those from the treasury benches, started leaving the floor.
Not only the BJD, even Opposition members left the house when a debate on the admissibility of an adjournment motion on the state government’s failure on paddy procurement was started.
At 12.50 pm, 35 BJD members, 18 BJP and five Congress MLAs were present in the house while the numbers dropepd to 17 BJD, 4 Congress and 9 BJP members at 1.50 pm. The number of BJD members came down to 12 when the debate was over at 3.35 pm even as Congress and BJP had walked out. Baring two to three ministers, no other members of the ministry were present during the debate. Maximum first-time MLAs from the ruling party remained absent during the debate.
Even Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, government chief whip Pramilla Mallick, LoP Pradipta Naik, BJP deputy leader in the house BC Sethi and Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi were absent. In the 147 member house, BJD has 113, BJP 23, Congress nine and CPI (M) 1 MLAs.
Maharathy, Amat play ‘opposition’
Panchayati Raj Minister Pratap Jena Tuesday found opposition from his own party colleagues when Pradeep Maharathy and Pradip Amat, both former ministers, questioned him over lack of drinking water supply in rural areas. Replying to a question from Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Jena said 19,504 out of 47,306 villages in the state have been supplied with piped drinking water while all villages will be covered by 2025. However, Maharathy mocked the minister, saying there are inconsistencies in his claims. “You (Jena) are No 1 minister in the entire country…..don’t try to escape in the name of Chief Minister Naveen Babu,” Maharathy said in the house. Former Speaker and ex-finance minister Pradip Amat said a drinking water project started 13 years ago is yet to be completed.