Congress MLAs blow whistles in Assembly

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly on Thursday witnessed chaotic scenes as members of the Opposition Congress blew whistles as a mark of protest against “rising crimes against women across the State” after the BJP came to power last year. The BJD members also created ruckus in the House demanding the withdrawal of restriction on videography and photography by journalists during Question Hour.

Ruckus erupted in the House immediately after an obituary reference was made on the death of former MLA Debaraj Seth of Sonepur Assembly seat. Seth died on Wednesday. He was 84.

Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam were among the members who paid tributes to the departed legislator, as the House observed a one-minute silence.

Soon after the obituary reference, Congress MLAs, wearing black badges, rushed to the well of the House, holding placards and raising slogans against the State government. They demanded a statement from Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi over “rising crimes against women”.

The CLP also said that they will continue the stir in the Assembly till a House Committee was formed to probe all the crimes against women that took place in the last eight months of BJP rule in the State. Unable to continue the proceedings, Speaker Surama Padhy adjourned the House till noon.

When the House reassembled, the Congress members again raised the issue and staged a walkout as the Speaker allowed a discussion on the admissibility of an adjournment motion on the poor condition of State-run hostels for tribal and Dalit students in the state.

The House conducted the debate in the absence of the Congress members. The BJD MLAs actively participated in the debate moved by the party. In the afternoon session that commenced at 4 pm, the BJD MLAs staged a protest in the House raising objections to restrictions imposed on electronic media, especially TV camerapersons, and also print photographers to record videos or click photographs during Question Hour.

The issue was raised by BJD’s Deputy Leader in the House, Prasanna Acharya, who asked why the mediapersons were not allowed to record videos or click photographs during Question Hour. The journalists should be given a free hand and an Emergency-like situation should not be created, he said.

Acharya said that as per the practice, camerapersons of both the print and electronic media cover the Question House, which is also live telecast every day.

When he completed his speech, BJD members created a ruckus and demanded a ruling from the chair. Deputy Speaker Bhabani Shankar Bhoi, who was presiding over the session, assured the agitating BJD members that he would inform the Speaker about their concerns.

However, the BJD members continued sloganeering and accused the State government of attempting to control the media. Unable to run the House, Bhoi adjourned the proceedings first for 10 minutes and later for another 15 minutes.

Later, the Speaker allowed a discussion on the demand for a grant of the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department. Outside the House, senior BJD MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo came down heavily on the BJP government and alleged that the Assembly releases photographs and videos of only ruling party members.

“They have deliberately stopped the camerapersons from taking photographs of the opposition’s agitation in the House... this is undemocratic,” Sahoo alleged. Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik also blamed the government for the chaos in the House.

“It is the responsibility of the government to bring normalcy in the House, but the BJP has utterly failed in this,” Mallik said.