Bhubaneswar, Jul 23 : The issue of Enforcement Directorate (ED)
rocked the Odisha Assembly forcing Speaker BK Arukh to adjourn the house thrice from 1152 hours till 1600 hours.
The Speaker adjourned the house twice till
1600 hours after some members created a pandemonium in the house on
ED’s action.
He said some people also gathered at the ED’s office here when ED
summoned Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for questioning on the National Herald money laundering case.
The BJP MLA said on Friday the ED seized Rs 20 crore during a raid on the premises of Arpita Mukherjee, a close associate of West Bengal
Minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the alleged teacher recruitment scam.
The ED also raided the house of another Minister and
the officials, he added.
He said it proved that the allegations made by opposition parties
that the Union government was indulging in vindictive politics and
using the central agencies like ED, CBI, GST Council to suppress the
opposition was not true and baseless.
Sethi urged the Speaker to ensure that in future, such issues are not raised in the Assembly and said the house should not be adjourned.
The Congress members, reacting to a statement made by BJP Deputy leader
Bishnu Sethi, trooped into the well of the house and stalled the business of the house.
As the house plunged into a chaotic situation, the Speaker adjourned the house at 1152 hrs for ten minutes and convened a meeting to resolve
the issues. The house was later adjourned for another 15 minutes.
But there was no change in the situation after the house reassembled to take up the business. The Congress members again trooped into the well and shouted slogans.
The Speaker repeatedly appealed to the Congress members to go to their
seats and participate in the proceedings of the house. He was however, forced to adjourn the house at 12 20 hours till 1600 hours.
The admissibility of an adjournment motion could not be taken up due to the protest.
Congress member Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that the BJP is indulging in vindictive politics and deliberately harassing the
opposition members by misusing the central agencies like ED and CBI.
Congress member Santosh Singh Saluja condemned the ED for repeatedly interrogating Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. He challenged the government to interrogate people like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi if it has the has the courage.
Soon the members of the Congress rushed to the well and shouted slogans.
Finding it not possible to conduct the business of the house the Speaker adjourned it at 1152 hrs till 1202 and again from 1202 to
1217 hrs and tried to resolve the problem.
The Speaker adjourned the house at 1220hrs till 1600 hrs as there was no change in the situation.
