Ruckus in Odisha Assembly over Panchayat poll violence, house adjourned

23 February, Bhubaneswar

Opposition Congress and the BJP members in Odisha Assembly Thursday stalled the question hour forcing Speaker Niranjan Pujari to adjourn the house for 73 minutes demanding a debate on violence during the just concluded Panchayat election in the state.

The opposition members created a ruckus inside the house when their demand for a debate on the law and order problem and violence in the panchayat election suspending the question hour was disallowed by the Speaker.

As the house witnessed noisy scene forcing the Speaker adjourn it at 1032hrs till 1145hrs. When the house reassembled after the adjournment, leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra said a serious law and order problem has been created in the state following a series of poll violence reported during the election and urged the Speaker to allow a discussion on the motion moved by them suspending the question hour. But the Speaker did not pay any heed to the opposition demand and asked school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra to reply to a question.

As the minister started replying to the question, the BJP and the Congress members stood up on their seats and raised slogans. The Speaker sensing the mood of the agitated opposition adjourned the house without transacting question hour business.

When the house reassembled after the adjournment, the opposition members reiterated their demand to take up the discussion immediately in the interest of democracy. The BJD members however opposed any discussion on poll violence and said the house should discuss the issue only after the results were declared on February 25 next.

The treasury bench members argued that any discussion during the counting of votes might create more violence. The counting of votes for the sarpanches, ward members and samiti members is going on today and the counting for election of zilla parishad members would be held on February 25.