Following pandemonium in the Odisha Assembly which continued for the ninth consecutive working day of the winter session on Friday, the Speaker declared the House adjourned sine die, effectively washing away all the remaining 17 working days.
The winter session which commenced on December 1, was scheduled to run till December 31.
As per reports, the Chief Whip of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Pramila Mallick brought the House adjournment motion citing no pending business of the legislature.
Meanwhile, the BJP MLAs sat on dharna in front of the Assembly following the announcement terming the BJD government as ‘Escapist’.
Speaking to reporters, the Deputy Leader of Opposition, Mohan Majhi said, “We wanted the Chief Minister to come to the House and address our issues. He should have suspended Minister Dibyashankar Mishra over allegations of the latter’s involvement in the Mamita Meher murder case and hand over the investigation to the CBI in the interest of a fair probe.”
He continued, “But his indifference to our demands compelled us to protest in the House in order to make our voices reach to the CM who can move all over Odisha to distribute BSKY cards, but cannot attend the Assembly session and take our questions,” Majhi alleged.
“This is an ‘escapist’ government. They know that they cannot answer our questions honestly. That is why they adjourned the entire winter session with 17 working days still remaining,” Majhi said.
Similarly, MLA Nauri Nayak said, “We will take the issues to the voters. Only the voters will smash their ego.”
It is worthwhile to mention here that the only proceeding in the House which could take place was the departmental grants which were guillotined by the Speaker after the House re-convened on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, protests over demands for justice to the family of slain Kalahandi lady teacher Mamita Meher turned violent after several workers of the Odisha Chhatra (student) Congress wrestled with the police before breaching the security cordon to reach the Odisha Assembly in Bhubaneswar. Several Congress activists were injured in the police lathi charge with the police justifying their action claiming it was necessary to prevent arsoning of police vehicles.