Bhubaneswar: Alleging that he was not given opportunity to participate in the general discussion on the Odisha Lokayukta Bill-2014, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh on Wednesday sat on dharna in the well of the House while one of his party MLAs smashed the Speaker's mike in the Assembly.
Unable to run the House, Speaker Panel Member Raghunath Mohanty, who was in chair, adjourned the proceeding till tomorrow.
As the Chair asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kalpataru Das to reply to the general discussion on the Bill, the Opposition members vehemently protested the move. They wanted to participate in the general discussion before the debate begins on the Bill.
However, Mohanty asked the minister to go ahead with his reply. Annoyed over the decision, Leader of Opposition Singh rushed to well of the House and sat on dharna on the reporter's table.
Singh said only Congress member Chakradhar Paik has participated in the general discussion, but many others including himself wanted to air their view on the subject.
While Singh sat on dharna, some of Congress MLAs attempted to climb the Speaker's podium. One of them grabbed the Speaker's mike and twisted it before removing the pen stand.
As the din continued and treasury attempts to pacify Singh failed, Mohanty adjourned the House till tomorrow.