Bhubaneswar: The winter session of the State Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die on Friday, 29 days ahead of its scheduled end on December 31.
Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha announced sine die adjournment of the House after passing the Appropriation Bill for first supplementary budget of Rs.16,800 crore for the year 2022-23.
The Appropriation Bill was also passed in the absence of the opposition BJP and Congress members.
Soon after that, Government Chief Whip Prashant Muduli moved a motion proposing sine-die adjournment of the session as no legislative business was left to discuss in the House. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik remained present during the validatory session.
Out of 33 business days of the winter session that started on November 24, the House was assembled for only eight working days. However, the session witnessed ruckus over several issues including the teachers’ protest, lady blackmailer Archana Nag case and farmers’ issues.
Three Bills were passed and three CAG reports laid in the Assembly during the session. Besides, 38 papers and 10 annual reports were laid before the House during the session.
Earlier in the day, as the House assembled for the day at 10.30 am, the BJP members carrying banners stormed into the well of the house and raised slogans against the government over various demands of farmers. As a noisy scene prevailed in the House, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 11.30 am.
When the House reassembled, the BJP members continued their protest and later staged a noisy walk out from the Assembly on the farmers’ issues.
The BJP Members later sit on dharana before the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Assembly premises.
“The Chief Minister along with many ministers have remained absent in the Assembly as they are busy campaigning for the Padampur by-poll. No one here listens to listen the problems of farmers,” said BJP Chief Whip Mohan Majhi.
Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra targeted both state and central governments for not looking at the plight of farmers.
“The PMFBY is a Central government scheme. So, they cannot put the responsibility on the state. At the same time, the Odisha government is also equally responsible. The question is why they implanted the yojana in the state. It is Naveen Babu’s weakness that he agrees to whatever the Prime Minister says,” Mishra said.
Reacting on BJP’s protest, BJD MLA Amar Satpathy said, “The objective is not the farmer issue. They are using the House to fulfill their political motives as the by-election is ahead.”
Meanwhile, the BJP has organized a massive protest rally of the farmers to gherao the State Assembly on four points of demands which included release of input assistance, insurance money under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and black-marketing of fertilizers.