Budget session: Odisha Assembly witnesses repeated adjournments on third day

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly continues to witness repeated adjournments on Wednesday again following a ruckus on the third day of the budget session.

The opposition BJD staged a walkout over the state government’s inaction in the case related to the alleged assault on an Assistant Section Officer (ASO) by Governor Raghubar Das’s son.

The Congress members also disrupted the house over the neglect of Odisha in the Union Budget presented in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Speaker Surama Padhy first adjourned the Assembly for about an hour following the pandemonium in the house. But when the House reassembled again at 11.30 pm, the disruption continued so Padhy adjourned the house till 12 pm again.

The all-party meeting called by the Speaker to discuss with the ruling and opposition members to end the impasse also did not yield any result. So, the house was later adjourned till 4 pm by the Speaker as the ruckus continued to rock the House.

The BJD also announced that the party will boycott the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on Governor's Address. However, it will take part in the proceedings of the House later in the day for the election of the Deputy Speaker.

Speaking to media persons, BJD leader Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said that the state government seems disinterested in running the house by ending the impasse.

“The government is not calling a meeting of the business advisory committee to resolve the impasse in the house. This shows that the government is neither interested in running the House nor in addressing the issue related to the Governor so we staged a walkout,” the BJD leader said.

He further stated that the party will carry out the constitutional duty by participating in the election of the Deputy Speaker scheduled to be held this afternoon.

The opposition Congress also protested in the assembly on Wednesday alleging that Odisha was neglected in the Union Budget. The party also targeted the ruling party raising the Union government’s stand on the Polavaram dam project in Andhra Pradesh which will affect large parts of the Malkangiri district of the state.