Bhubaneswar: The Winter Session of the Odisha Assembly today began on a stormy note when Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati along with Opposition legislators rushed to the House well demanding discontinuance of the Question Hour following which Speaker Niranjan Pujari adjourned the proceedings till 3 pm.
As soon as the Question Hour began, Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra drew the Speaker’s attention to allow a debate in the House on the Japanese Encephalitis while suspending the Question Hour.
But the Speaker rejected the LoP’s demand and decided to continue the Question Hour following which Bahinipati and Opposition members rushed to the Well in the House shouting slogans.
Unable to run the House, the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 pm.
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Justifying the din created by the Opposition, the Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said, "We had placed a motion for debate on a major issue. When hundreds of child have died of the Japanese Encephalitis and an unknown disease, the State government is in deep slumber as well as helpless. The government is not taking any stop to tackle the diseases. As the matter is of serious concern, I had requested the Speaker to cancel the Question Hour and have a debate on it in the House. But he did not accept the proposal forcing the Opposition legislators to protest and the House was adjourned till 3pm."
Mishra added, "Whenever the Opposition realises a major issue related to the interest of the State has to be discussed in House, they request the Speaker to prioritse the same and requests to cancel the Question Hour. This has happened several times in the Parliament and Assembly if someone looks at the past."
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"Why there is a system for cancellation of the Question Hour to discuss major issues such as the kids death? Someone might ask why the issue cannot be debated during the zero hour. But we want ask is not the death of hundreds kid a serious matter," the Opposition leader added.
Mishra further stated, "We will request the Speaker again to prioritise the kids death issue and allow the house to debate on it."
Upon resumption at 3PM when the proceedings failed to return to normal, the speaker adjourned the house for another 30 minutes and called an all party meeting.
Later in the day, when proceedings returned to normal, the Finance minister tabled the supplementary budget.