Ruckus in Odisha Assembly, proceedings adjourned till 4 pm

Bhubaneswar, Sep 22 (PTI) The Odisha Assembly on Monday witnessed chaos and was adjourned till 4 pm as opposition BJD and Congress members raised slogans and displayed banners and placards over various issues.

As soon as the House assembled for Question Hour at 10.30 am, BJD members trooped into the well holding placards and accused the BJP government of curtailing the powers of three-tier panchayat functionaries and promoting officials.

They demanded an immediate rollback of the cabinet decision to raise the financial powers of block development officers (BDOs) and engineers from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

When BJD members were staging the agitation, Opposition Congress MLAs stood near their seats holding placards with slogans such as 'BJD and BJP bhai bhai, anastha prastab ananti nanhi, Vidhan Sabha chalae dianti nahi (BJD and BJP are brothers; they do not bring no-confidence motions nor allow the Assembly to function).

The Congress lawmakers also waved posters alleging a "secret alliance between the BJP and BJD.

Amidst the pandemonium, Speaker Surama Padhy made several appeals to the agitating members to return to their respective seats and cooperate.

However, her appeals made no impact on the BJD and Congress members, following which she announced the adjournment of proceedings till 4 pm.

The House functioned only for seven minutes during the pre-lunch session.

Trouble had begun earlier when Law Minister Prithivi Raj Harichandan rose to reply to a question by a BJP member on the creation of a police station in Mayurbhanj district.

Outside the House, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik said, "This is completely undemocratic and against the spirit of the panchayati raj system. By enhancing the powers of officers and engineers, the government has sidelined the elected people’s representatives. We demand that the government rollback its decision." The BJD, which had paralysed proceedings last week over the fertiliser crisis in the state, shifted focus on Monday to the panchayat powers issue.

The party announced plans to gherao the Assembly on Tuesday in protest.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rama Chandra Kadam said they have given a notice for a ‘no-confidence motion’ against the BJP government.

But the matter could not be raised in the Assembly as the BJD kept the House in disorder over some issue or the other.

"We suspect that there is a secret understanding between the BJD and the BJP to ensure that Congress’s no-confidence notice is not discussed in the House," Kadam said.

Kadam further claimed that despite the Speaker accepting a Congress notice for an adjournment motion debate, it could not be taken up due to BJD’s agitation.

Rejecting the charge, Mallik said, "The Congress served a notice for a no-confidence motion against the BJP government without consulting us, the principal opposition party. Therefore, it is their notice and their issue." BJP member Santosh Khatua defended the state government’s decision to enhance the financial power of BDOs and engineers at the block and panchayat levels.

"Now a lot of money is being sanctioned by the Centre for the development of rural areas, Therefore, it is required to raise the financial power of BDOs and engineers to expedite development work," he argued. PTI AAM AAM MNB