Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari adjourned the House till 3 pm on Thursday as the din demanding implementation of the Official Language Act in the State from today continued.
As the soon as the House assembled at 12.15 pm after an adjournment over the same issue, Congress members continued their sloganeering following which the Speaker adjourned the House for second time today.
Earlier in the day, as soon as the House assembled for the day, the Congress members shouted slogans in the well of the Assembly and waved placards to press their demand for use of Odia in all official communication.
Speaker Niranjan Pujari, however, ordered the beginning of the question hour. Minister Debi Prasad Mishra tried to reply to an adjournment notice amid Congress ruckus but in vain.
Unable to run the House, the Speaker adjourned the Assembly till 12.15 pm.
BJP members supported the Congress members on the issue while standing near their seats.
“The Chief minister neither addresses the media in Odia nor does he use the language in the Assembly. He neither knows how to write nor how to speak Odia. Odia language is not being used during Naveen Patnaik’s rule and our demand is to use Odia language in all government documentation and priority should be given to Odia in all aspects and fields, said Congress chief whip Taraprasad Bahinipati.
“It is very unfortunate that the State is being managed by a person who does not even know the language of the land. This is a humiliation of the Odia language and its our duty to restore its respect,” said BJP president Basant Panda.
“The chief minister writes, speaks and address the public in Odia and the Odia people know it well. Just by saying that the CM does not know Odia, if the opposition is trying to achieve some self-satisfaction then it can do so. Our government is dedicatedly making efforts to make Odia the official language and it will happen,” said BJD spokesperson Samir Dash.