Bhubaneswar: While the opposition Congress and BJP members remained absent in the State Assembly on Wednesday protesting the weeklong suspension of Congress member Naba Das from the House by the Speaker for allegedly watching porn video clippings, the statement of senior BJD leader and Excise and Cooperation minister Damodar Rout has put the ruling party in a fix.
“Heavens would not have fallen had the motion against Das deferred by a couple of days after passing a resolution on conferment of Bharat Ratna on the legendary leader Biju Patnaik”, Rout said while raising the issue during a discussion on Biju Patnaik.
The minister further stated in the Assembly, “It is painful for a senior MLA like him to see the way House is being run.”
Later, speaking to mediapersons, Rout said, “A motion was adopted in the House and Naba Das was suspended for seven days over some mobile phone issue. The motion could have been brought some other days and discussed. I told the House after discussing a motion on conferment of Bharat Ratna to Biju Babu, the suspension motion could have been adopted.”
Asked about the statement of Rout, an embarrassed BJD chief whip Anant Das told mediapersons, “I cannot comment on his statements. Let the Speaker and the House to decide on the matter.”
Later in the day, the Assembly passed a resolution over conferment of the Bharat Ratna to Biju Babu in absence of Opposition, who were adamant of not returning to the House until the Speaker do not reconsider his decision to suspend Congress MLA Naba Das.
Showing his dissatisfaction over the debate on the motion on Biju Babu sans Opposition members in the House, Leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra said, “Today, a discussion is going on regarding Biju Babu. I will say the legendary leader is great, but the chief minister has made him small.”
Speaking on the statement of Rout, Mishra said his statements are like a solid slap on the face of the chief minister.
Echoing similar views, State BJP chief KV Singhdeo said, “It is a pre-planned design of the BJD to keep the Opposition out from participating in the discussion.”
Reacting to the charges, BJD MLA Sameer Das said, “The Speaker might reconsider his decision over the suspension. Therefore, we were expecting the Opposition would participate in the motion regarding Biju Babu.”
Notably, the Opposition members were adamant and decided not to return to the House until the Speaker reconsiders the suspension of Das.