The winter session of Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) began on Thursday in Bhubaneswar. The inaugural day of the session saw members paying tributes to six deceased members in the Assembly.
The deceased members included Padampur MLA Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha and Dhamnagar MLA, Bishnu Charan Sethi.
Other members who were paid tributes to are Golak Nayak, Kapil Tiwary, Gopanarayan Das and Adikanda Sethi.
The House was then adjourned till 5 pm. As per schedule, the supplementary budget for the financial year 2022-23 will be presented before the House. It will have a total of 33 working days including six private members days.
In his speech, Leader of Opposition, Jayanarayan Mishra said, “I welcome the condolence motion passed in the House today.” We lost several members recently. Out of them, three were my close friends. I pay my hearty tributes to the departed souls.”
Similarly, senior Congress leader, Narasingha Mishra paid his tributes to the deceased members too.
The first day of the winter session, which will continue till December 31, saw a relatively empty Assembly Hall. Many members including the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Niranjan Pujari and members of the treasury bench remained absent owing to campaigning in Padampur.
Meanwhile, Speaker, Bikram Keshari Arukha has allowed members to join the House proceedings virtually on health grounds. If any MLA feels sick and feels unable to attend the Assembly in person, they can join in the virtual mode.
(Reported By Harihar Chand, OTV)