Bhubaneswar: Opposition Congress and BJP MLAs Tuesday tried to corner the state government over the recent allegations of scams and created a ruckus in the state assembly during Question Hour.
BJP MLAs wore black gowns and raised slogans against the alleged failure of the state government to act sternly in the wake of the Cooperative Bank loan scam. They demanded a CBI enquiry into the matter to bring the errant to book while charging the state government with shielding the accused in the case.
The party MLAs later also protested outside the assembly near the Mahatma Gandhi statue after Speaker PK Amat adjourned the House for one hour till 11:30am.
BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said, “The BJD to divert the attention from the main issue of scam worth as high as Rs 800 crore is making a non-issue an issue to be discussed in the assembly. First they should talk about the scam and disclose the facts related to it.”
The Congress on the other hand raised the issue of deadlock in the Orissa High Court and asked the state government about budgetary allocation for celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary in the state.
Narasingha Mishra, Leader of Opposition in the House, said, “HC is closed for more than 20 days and people are deprived of liberty and justice. This could be disastrous. There should not be any deadlock. Therefore, I appeal to the House and the government to resolve the matter and let the HC function.”
On the issue of Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, BJD MLA Sanjay Das Burma told the House that the state government will ensure the occasion is celebrated in an apt manner but refrained from talking much about the budgetary allocation relating to the event.