Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been creating ruckus in the State Legislative Assembly from the very beginning over alleged assault on an ASO by Governor’s son, has decided to boycott the debate on motion of thanks on Governor Raghubar Das’s speech to the Assembly.
Speaking to the media persons outside the House, senior BJD leader and Bolangir MLA Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said that they are disappointed with the way the new government is functioning. The party members will participate in the election for the Deputy Speaker, but won’t participate in the debate on Motion of Thanks on Governor’s address, he said.
Taking a dig at the BJP government, the BJD lawmaker asked, “Why is the business advisory meeting not being convened to resolve the impasse. Why is government not making a statement on the issue in the House?”
The House is supreme and this is what holds the government accountable to the people of Odisha. There is a lack of respect on the part of the government for Odisha Assembly and its proceedings, he said.
Shri Singh Deo further said that the government has not made any effort to run the House smoothly, fearing that its trouble would mount once the House starts functioning.
“There are a lot of issues including price rise and Centre’s neglect of the state as was evident in the Union Budget in which the state got nothing substantial despite sending 20 BJP MPs to Lok Sabha. The government is afraid of any discussion on these issues. Being a regional party, the interest of Odisha is paramount for us,” the BJD MLA said.
Meanwhile, stalemate continued in the Assembly for the third day today as Opposition members from the Biju Janata Dal and the Congress created ruckus inside the House raising different issues.
There was ruckus when the House assembled for the day at 10.30 am for question hour, forcing Speaker Surama Padhy to adjourn the House till 4 PM.
Earlier, trouble started when Deputy Chief Minister K.V. Singh Deo stood up to reply to a question raised by BJP member Amar Kumar Nayak.
BJD members trooped into the well of the House and started shouting slogans against the government, demanding action against the Governor’s son. The BJD members later staged a noisy walkout when the party’s Deputy Leader Prasanna Acharya said that since the government is not taking any action against the Governor’s son, there was no point in participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the address by the Governor.
The Opposition Congress members, who were also raising the same issue for the last two days, disrupting the transaction of business in the House, trooped into the well of the House protesting against the Union Budget 2023-24, presented in Parliament on Tuesday, offering very little to Odisha.
As the Assembly witnessed ruckus, the Speaker first adjourned it till 11.30 am, then till noon and finally till 4 pm. Though the Speaker has conveyed an all party meeting, it won’t get any result.
Reacting to the disruption of Assembly businesses, BJP MLA Babu Singh said that the BJD had no face to raise law and order issues. He alleged that the previous BJD government had not taken action against some ministers during its rule despite their names being associated with heinous crimes like murder.
“On the first day of the Assembly, Congress raised an issue about the Governor’s address which was in Hindi. What happened to their conscience when the Leader of Opposition (Naveen Patnaik) was delivering his address in English,” he added.