Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly Monday witnessed noisy scenes with Opposition BJD and Congress creating a ruckus over separate issues prompting Speaker Surama Padhy to adjourn the proceedings till 12.09 pm.
The disturbance started as soon as the House made an obituary reference to the late MLA Debendra Sharma, who passed away Friday.
The Congress and BJD members trooped into the well of the House making separate demands. While Congress members demanded the formation of a House Committee to inquire into crimes against women that took place in the last nine months, the BJD MLAs sought assurance from the state government of reserving seats for ST, SC & OBC students in different technical education institutions.
While Congress MLAs beat gongs and cymbals to draw the attention of the government towards their demand, the BJD members exhibited placards.
Speaker Padhy’s repeated appeal to the agitating members to return to their seats failed to yield any result following which she adjourned the proceedings from 10.45 am to 12.09 pm.
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As the House was adjourned, the BJD members staged a sit-in near the Biju Patnaik statue while the Congress MLAs sat on a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue.
“We will continue to protest in Odisha Assembly and outside till the government forms a House Committee to inquire into the crimes against women across the state. There have been 54 gangrape incidents in the last eight months and 1,600 women atrocity cases registered in different police stations. Fifty per cent of the state’s population is not safe in Odisha,” Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam said.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has been agitating over the single-point agenda of House Committee formation to inquire into the crimes against women, since the beginning of the second phase of the Budget session March 7. One of its senior members Taraprasad Bahinipati was suspended on charge of unruly behaviour while agitaing in the House over this issue.
Opposition chief whip and senior BJD member Pramila Mallik said that they are forced to stage agitation in the Well of the House as the state government denied reservation to the ST, SC and OBC students.
Senior BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain said that ST, SC and OBC constitute more than 95 per cent of the state’s population. But, they are denied proportionate reservation in education and jobs.
BJP MLA Purna Chandra Sethi alleged that the Opposition BJD and Congress disrupted the proceeding and created ruckus without holding discussion on issues. “It is unfortunate that the precious time of Assembly is wasted due to ruckus,” Sethi said.
PTI