Bhubaneswar: Pandemonium prevailed for the second consecutive day inside the Odisha Assembly as the opposition staged a walkout over farmer issues following which the Speaker adjourned the House till tomorrow.
As soon as Speaker Pradip Amat started the afternoon proceedings at 3 pm, the Congress and BJP members rushed to the well of the House shouting slogans highlighting farmer issues. The ruling BJD members on the other hand raised slogans standing at their seats demanding hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy.
Later the members of both the Congress and BJP walked out of the Assembly and the house ran without the Opposition for nearly 25 minutes.
Later, the speaker adjourned the House till tomorrow and called for a House Committee meeting to discuss the demand for hike in paddy MSP.
Prior to the afternoon session, the Speaker had also adjourned the House once following ruckus by BJP and Congress. Moreover, BJD members took out a rally from the Assembly premises to Raj Bhawan and submitted a memorandum, addressed to the President Ram Nath Kovind, to Governor SC Jamir seeking hike in paddy MSP.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to hike the MSP of paddy by 1.5 times of the production cost. But, the central government increased it by a meagre Rs 80. Besides, the union government has also disrespected the state assembly, which has unanimously passed a resolution to demand a hike in paddy MSP to Rs 2,930 per quintal," said Finance Minister, Sashi Bhusan Behera.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra blamed both the BJD and the BJP for "shedding crocodile tears" over farmers’ plight.
"The ruling members are saying that they are ready for a discussion but are not doing so when a motion is being moved. They don't have the courage to face protests," said Mishra.
The opposition leader said he has written a letter to the Speaker seeking his intervention in ensuring smooth-running of the House.
BJP MLA Pradip Purohit alleged that while farmers in state are in a miserable situation following drought, pest attack and unseasonal rain, the government is creating drama in the House by using the Speaker as a shield for the last two days and wasting funds of the exchequer used for running the House.
“The Speaker intentionally adjourned the House today so that the ruling-BJD can go to Raj Bhavan. Citing these reasons we boycotted the House,” he said.