Bhubaneswar: Impasse continued on the sixth day of the winter session of Odisha Assembly on Tuesday as the members of the Opposition parties created ruckus in the House demanding the dismissal of Minister Dibya Shankar Mishra over his alleged involvement in the Kalahandi school teacher Mamita Meher’s murder case.
Mishra has been in the eye of storm after his alleged close proximity with Gobinda Sahu, the prime accused in Mamita’s murder, came to the fore.
As the House assembled for the day to transact business at 10.30 am, MLAs from both BJP and Congress rushed into the well of the House holding banners and placards. They also started beating ‘ghantas’ (gongs) and ringing ‘ghantis’ and sprinkled ‘gangajal’ inside the House to mark their protest.
As the situation in the House became unmanageable, Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro adjourned the House till 4 pm.
In the counter attack, the legislators from BJD were seen raising slogans protesting the hike in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG and other essential commodities. The BJD MLAs also staged a demonstration outside the House over the issue.
Congress had brought adjournment motion notice in the assembly today for a discussion over the sensational Mamita murder case to which Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Bikram Keshari Arukh was scheduled to reply.
The BJP MLAs also staged a demonstrated outside the House reiterating its demand for the ouster of Mishra from the Cabinet.
“The CM is in deep slumber and he is not in a state to listen anything. That is why we beat ghanta and ghanti in the House so that he could wake up and intervene in the matter. The CM went to attend hockey event at Kaling Stadium but he is not coming to the House,” alleged BJP Deputy Leader in the Assembly, Bishnu Sethi.
Slamming the Opposition for deliberately stalling the House for discussion on other important topics, “BJD MLA Pratap Keshari Deb said, “At one hand, they (Congress) are bringing adjournment motion and on the other hand, creating ruckus. This indicates, they don’t want any discussion on the issue. CM and Speaker tried to resolve the issue but they (Congress & BJP) are adamant and don’t want the House to run. This is a deliberate attempt to avoid discussion of other topics.”
Holding banners, the members of Congress conducted ‘parikrama’ of the Odisha Assembly demanding Mishra’s ouster and High Court-monitored SIT probe into Mamita murder case.
“We are holding the parikrama so that the people of the State know that how the Treasury Bench of the Odisha Assembly is stalling the House and creating ruckus. The work of the Treasury Bench is responsible to run the House with the cooperation of the Speaker and Opposition. But Odisha, the ruling party MLAs are halting the House proceedings,” said Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja.
On Monday, the Speaker had called all-party meeting at 4 pm to resolve the issue so that the Assembly proceedings could be taken up smoothly. However, the meeting remained inconclusive.