Bhubaneswar: The first session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly commenced tumultuously, with opposition parties BJD and Congress staging a walkout during the Governor’s address over the ‘Odia Asmita’ issue.
Amidst the Governor’s address, the assault on ASO became a point of contention in the Assembly. The BJD vehemently protested the incident. Opposition leader Naveen Patnaik was the first to stand in protest. The Congress called for the arrest of the governor’s son following the assault on ASO.
Addressing the media, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik stated, “My party and I are both disappointed and surprised by the current government’s lack of action against the Governor’s son, who has been accused of violence against a government officer. This has deeply shocked us.”
He remarked that the breakdown of law and order in the state is apparent, adding, “During my tenure as chief minister, if ministers, MLAs, MPs, or senior government officials had violated the law, immediate action would have followed.”
He insisted that the state government must take actions that are under the law.
“The BJP has established the government and has consistently championed Odisha Asmita. Yet, there has been no inquiry into the governor’s son, who assaulted an Odia officer. The governor addressed the assembly in Hindi. We have urged the Chief Minister to detain the governor’s son and enforce stringent measures. The governor must be dismissed. Hence, we demonstrated this within the assembly. ‘Odia Asmita’ needs to be upheld. The protests will persist until the governor’s son is apprehended,” stated Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Congress MLA.