Ruckus in Odisha Assembly for 3rd day over demand for arrest of Guv's son

Bhubaneswar, Jul 24 (PTI) Proceedings of the Odisha Assembly were disrupted for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, as ruckus continued to prevail over the demand by opposition members for action against Governor Raghubar Das's son for allegedly assaulting a government official earlier this month.

With both BJD and the Congress walking out of the House by boycotting the Motion of Thanks on the Governor's address on the opening day of the session on Monday, the debate was held in the absence of the opposition members.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi criticised the previous BJD government and claimed he has bridged the gap between the chief minister and the people.

"Earlier, people were unable to meet their chief minister. Now, they are coming in large numbers with grievances and meeting me freely," he claimed.

Majhi said his government has ensured that the all the four gates of Jagannath Temple in Puri were opened.

"While the previous government could not give Rs 100 as bonus to farmers, our government will get Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy," Majhi said.

The chief minister also announced that his government would implement Ayushman Bharat Yojana and New Education Policy which could not be introduced during the previous BJD government. This apart, the Odisha government will also implement Subhadra Yojana under which the women will be given financial assistance from September 17, the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Before the debate on the governor's address, the opposition participated in the proceedings when the House elected Bhabani Shankar Bhoi as the new Deputy Speaker of the assembly. However, the opposition MLAs later walked out when the government moved a motion for a debate on the governor's address.

Earlier on the day, the House witnessed ruckus as soon as it assembled for the Question Hour. BJD leaders staged a walkout alleging police inaction over the assault case, while Congress MLAs trooped into the well of the House, protesting "neglect" towards Odisha in the Union budget.

Assistant Section Officer (ASO) Baikuntha Pradhan was allegedly assaulted by the governor's son Lalit Kumar inside the Puri Raj Bhavan on July 7.

Amid the chaos, Speaker Surama Padhy first adjourned the House till 11.30 am, then till noon and subsequently till 4 pm.

Padhy has convened an all-party meeting to resolve the impasse in the assembly.

Accusing the state's BJP government of "shielding the governor's son", the opposition BJD has been demanding his arrest and a statement from the CM, who is also in charge of the Home Department.

The BJD and Congress had earlier boycotted the governor's address to the House on the first day of the assembly session on Monday.

Both the government and opposition blamed each other for the impasse in the House.

"The government has no motive to operate the House. The chief minister should make a statement on incident," BJD member Kalikesh Singh Deo said.

BJP member Babu Singh, however, blamed the BJD and Congress for the prevailing logjam in the House.

"Both BJD and Congress have joined hands to paralyse the House. The assembly is for discussion on the problems of the people," he said. PTI AAM RBT AAM ACD