Bhubaneswar: Stalemate continued in the Odisha Assembly as the house failed to transact any business for the fifth consecutive day on Monday due to protest by Opposition BJP and Congress members demanding dismissal and arrest of Minister of State for Home in Mamita Meher murder case.
Speaker S. N. Patro was forced to adjourn the house at 1035hrs just five minutes after the house assembled for the day today as the slogan-shouting Congress and BJP members disrupted the business. The Congress members carrying posters climbed up and occupied the Speaker’s podium behind the Speaker‘s chair. The BJP members also stormed into the well of the house and shouted slogans.
Not to be lagged behind, the Treasury bench members wearing the mask of freedom fighter Jayi Rajguru protested the centre’s apathy in not according to the status of 1817 Paik Bidroh the status of the first war of Independence.
As the house plunged into a chaotic situation due to protest by both the Opposition and the treasury bench members, the Speaker adjourned the house at 1035hrs till 1600hrs.
The house could not take up the question hour business and other business listed for the pre-lunch session today due to the protest by the members.
Since the commencement of the house on December 1, the house could not run for even an hour so far due to the protest by BJP and the Congress members over the Mamita Meher murder case and the involvement of the minister of state for Home in the murder case. While Congress is demanding a court-monitored SIT probe into the incident the BJP is insisting on CBI inquiry into the incident.
After the house was adjourned Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Majhi(BJP) said they would march to the Post office and would send a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requesting him to attend the house, convene an all-party meeting, intervene in the matter, consider the opposition demand and bring normalcy in the functioning of the house.
Majhi said they have decided to write to the Chief Minister as he is not attending the Assembly and not taking any initiative to run the business of the house.
Later the BJD members, also carrying posters and shouting slogans, sat on dharna before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Assembly premises demanding first war independence status to the Paik Bidroh. A couple of days back, in reply to a question of BJD Rajya Sabha MP Prashant Nanda, the Union Minister of Culture G. Kishan Reddy has stated the Paik Rebellion cannot be called the first war of independence. Outside the house, the Minister of State said the rejection of the demand made by the state government to accord the status of the first war of independence to Paik Bidroh is a blow to the ASMITA of Odisha. The central government, he said, should take steps immediately in this regard. The BJP and the Congress members said they would continue their agitation till their demand was met.
