Bhubaneswar: The winter session of the Odisha Assembly began Thursday and was adjourned till 4.30 pm after an obituary reference was made for the demise of two former legislators and one constable of the state police.
As soon as the House assembled at 11 am, Speaker Surama Padhy allowed Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to move the condolence motion for the death of former MLA Hemendra Prasad Mohapatra, ex-Jagatsinghpur legislator Krushna Chandra Mallik and police constable Saroj Kumar Pradhan.
The chief minister, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam, CPI(M) MLA Laxman Munda paid tribute to the late members of the Assembly and the policeman.
The House observed one minute of silence in respect of the deceased leaders and the police constable before the Speaker requested all the MLAs to remain present in the Assembly for a photo session with President Droupadi Murmu, who is scheduled to address the House at 4.30 pm.
Murmu will be the first President to address the Odisha Assembly during her two-day visit to the state.
“It is a historic day for all of us, and therefore, I request all members to remain present in the Assembly,” Padhy said.
According to the President’s programme, she will address the House from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm and also visit the chamber she used in the past as a minister in the BJD-BJP coalition government from 2000 to 2009.
Murmu was elected to the Odisha Assembly in 2000 and 2004 from the Rairangpur segment on a BJP ticket.
The Assembly has been decorated in the wake of the President’s visit, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling.
