Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJP and Congress stalled Assembly proceedings and gheraoed Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro in his chamber for rejecting an adjournment notice on mining scam, here Wednesday.
The Congress had moved the notice for a discussion on the mining scam in Odisha. However, the speaker turned it down.
The pre-lunch session saw no business as the Congress and BJP members rushed to the Well of the House protesting against the Speaker’s refusal to allow the adjournment motion.
Their actions forced the Speaker to adjourn the Assembly twice till 4 pm. As soon as the House assembled for the day at 10.30am, Congress members protested against the rejection of the adjournment notice.
BJP members also stood up on their seats and created ruckus on the floor forcing Patro to adjourn the proceedings till 11.30am.
The Opposition members also gheraoed the chamber of Speaker and did not allow him to come to the House to conduct business. Since Patro could not make it to the House after the first adjournment, Deputy Speaker Rajani Kant Singh adjourned the House till 4.00pm.
BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi and Congress member Santosh Singh Saluja told mediapersons that they were forced to gherao the Speaker as he did not allow a discussion on ‘mining scam’ in the House.
“The government has a nexus with the mine owners and is equally involved in the scam. Therefore, the Speaker rejected the adjournment notice citing it doesn’t have any relevance at present,” Majhi said.
The BJP members meanwhile have decided to move an adjournment motion over the issue Thursday.
“The government is neckdeep into the mining scam. So it is now scared to even discuss the issue. We tried to discuss the mining irregularities in the state during the last session but the government ignored it then. This time too, we tried to bring an adjournment motion which the Speaker rejected,” alleged Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja.
However, BJD leader Pratap Keshari Deb said the conduct of the members of the BJP and the Congress was condemnable.
“This is called shifting of goalposts in politics. When a playing team sees that its tactics are not yielding any fruitful result, it immediately changes strategy by shifting goalposts. The opposition parties are attempting to do the same,” Deb said.
PNN
