Bhubaneswar: The Congress party today decided to protest before Odisha Legislative Assembly on 27 March while condemning suspension of Congress Lawmaker, Tara Prasad Bahinipati, said PCC Chief Bhakta Charan Das.
The Opposition Congress party has been protesting against the rising crime against women inside and outside the Assembly for the past several days.
The party MLAs today boycotted the Assembly proceedings in protest against the suspension of party MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati from the House for seven days.
Shri Bahinipati was suspended after Government Chief Whip Saroj Pradhan moved a motion on Tuesday requesting the Speaker to suspend him for seven days due to his unruly and indecent behaviour in the House.
The motion was passed by a voice vote, following which Speaker Surama Padhy announced Shri Bahinipati’s suspension for seven working days, starting today.
As the House convened for the day, Congress Members voiced their opposition, calling the Speaker’s decision undemocratic and illegal before boycotting the Assembly proceedings.
Congress members staged a walkout in protest against the Speaker’s decision this morning. Later, the Congress members staged a dharna near the Gandhi statue inside the Assembly premises.
Speaking to the media, Shri Bahinipati stated that no party MLA would attend the Assembly session until the Speaker revoked the suspension order.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJD also condemned the Speaker’s decision to suspend Shri Bahinipati.
BJD Deputy Leader Prasanna Acharya, Deputy Chief Whip Pratap Keasri Deb, and senior MLAs Ranendra Pratap Swain and Arun Sahu urged the Speaker to reconsider the decision. Despite the absence of Congress legislators, the House functioned normally during the Question Hour.
Government Chief Whip Saroj Pradhan and Higher Education and Sports Minister Suravanshi Suraj met Congress MLAs at the dharna site and appealed to them to return to the House and participate in the debate. However, the Congress members did not pay any heed to the appeal.
The protest was withdrawn after State Congress President Bhakta Charan Das called an important meeting to discuss the future course of action. In the meeting, the party has decided to hold a massive agitation programme to gherao the state Assembly. However, the date has not been finalised on this matter.
“A crucial meeting of our party was held in presence of PCC President Bhakta Charan Das and AICC in-charge Ajay Kumar Lallu. The double engine government in Odisha has become defunct to protect our mothers and sisters,” alleged Sura Routray.
The party would be strengthened from grassroots level to fight the upcoming elections with all strength, he said.
“To give a befitted reply to the attack on our party MLA, we have proposed to organise a big protest, to gherao Vidhan Sabha,” he said.