The ruckus in the Odisha Legislative Assembly refused to die down on Tuesday as opposition BJD and Congress MLAs continued their protests demanding strict action in the SCB Medical College and Hospital fire case. Normal proceedings, including Question Hour and Zero Hour, have remained disrupted in the House since March 16.
As the House assembled for Question Hour, opposition members trooped into the well of the House, holding placards and raising slogans demanding the Health Minister’s resignation. Amid the slogan-shouting, Speaker Surama Padhy allowed some questions from BJP MLAs.
Housing & Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra answered BJP MLA Babu Singh’s question, while Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia replied to Sudhir Ranjan Patjoshi’s query. The Speaker later adjourned the House from 10:46 AM to 11:30 AM.
During Zero Hour, Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo urged the opposition parties to discuss the matter in the House instead of stalling proceedings. “The opposition has every right to protest, but repeatedly making the House dysfunctional is unfortunate,” he said. He invited them to raise the issue through debate so that it could be recorded in the Assembly’s official proceedings. “When we were in opposition, we too protested, but whenever the government called for discussion, we participated,” Singh Deo added.
However, the protests continued unabated. BJD MLAs Sarada Jena and Prashant Behera banged on the Speaker’s podium, while BJD MLAs Sujata Sahu and Manorama Mohanty tried to move towards the podium but were stopped by women security personnel.
BJP MLAs hit out sharply at the BJD, accusing it of disrupting the Assembly to hide its internal conflicts. “147 MLAs have been elected to this House to discuss the problems of their constituencies. But the opposition is not allowing it,” said BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy. He alleged that the BJD is trying to suppress internal dissent related to the Biju Naveen Inspirational Foundation, where 22 BJD MLAs had reportedly questioned Naveen Patnaik, leading to a split in the party. “To prevent this internal conflict from coming to light, BJD leader Naveen Patnaik is deliberately misusing the House,” Tripathy said, adding that the party was responsible for the SCB incident.
BJP Chief Whip Saroj Pradhan termed the opposition’s behaviour condemnable and urged LoP Naveen Patnaik to direct his party MLAs to allow the House to function. Several other BJP MLAs, including Padmalochan Panda, Saroj Padhi, Sanatan Bijuli, Manoranjan Dyan Samantara, Manas Dutta, Ashrit Pattanayak, Bibhuti Bhusan Pradhan, Purnachandra Sethi, Santosh Khatua and Babu Singh strongly criticised the BJD’s actions.
The Speaker adjourned the House from 12:20 PM to 4 PM. Protests continued in the afternoon session as well.
