Bhubaneswar: The State Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die here this evening 20 days ahead of the scheduled closure of the Winter Session.
The Winter Session of the House commenced on November 26 and was originally scheduled to continue till December 31. While 20 days were allocated for official business, five days were devoted to private members’ business.
During the brief session, the deletion of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ from the preamble of the constitution displayed on the Assembly premises, the shortage of potatoes, the Polavaram project, and the allegation of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi that posts of Assistant Section Officers were sold by the previous BJD government rocked the House.
The house also witnessed uproarious scenes over the issue of non-payment of salary to the Mission Shakti support staff. The supplementary budget was passed. Three official bills were passed and 10 private members bills were introduced.
BJP MLA Ashok Mohanty said the House was adjourned sine die since there was no official work left. BJD legislator Pradip Disari, however, claimed, “The BJP government closed the House out of fear. They ran away from the Assembly fearing the opposition.”
During the session, the House passed a total of three bills including the Odisha Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024.
On the last day of the session, issues like the Centre’s move to delink the Waltair division from the East Coast Railway Zone also led to a war of words between the members of both treasury bench members and opposition MLAs.
Senior BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain, however, objected to closing of the session before a discussion on the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was introduced in the House.