Stormy Budget session adjourned

Stormy Budget session adjourned
X

Bhubaneswar: The Budget session of the Odisha Assembly, which was marked by uproarious scenes, was on Thursday adjourned sine die by Speaker Surama Padhy three days ahead of its scheduled date. The third session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly commenced on February 13 and was scheduled to continue till April 5. However, keeping in view that no more important business is left, the House was adjourned sine die, the Speaker said.

Earlier, government chief whip Saroj Kumar Pradhan moved a proposal to adjourn the Assembly which was supported by members of the treasury bench. During the 25 working days of the session, the House passed three important Bills – ‘The Odisha Appropriation Bill, 2025’, ‘The Odisha Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2024’ and ‘The Odisha State Highways Authority Bill, 2025’.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who is also in charge of the Finance department, on February 17 presented the annual budget with a total outlay of Rs 2,90,000 crore for the 2025-26 fiscal.

The session witnessed a lot of ruckus, with the proceedings remaining adjourned for several days. For the first time in the history of the Assembly, all 14 Congress members were suspended for seven working days on charges of indiscipline and unruly behaviour.

While the Congress members created ruckus over “rising crimes” against women and demanded the formation of a House Committee to inquire into all such cases in the last eight months since the BJP came to power, the BJD raised several issues such as “deteriorating” law and order, Polavaram project, Mahanadi water dispute, reservation for ST, SC and OBCs in education and jobs, among others.

The second phase of the session turned out to be particularly stormy, with the BJD and Congress raising several issues and stalling most of the proceedings for nearly 15 days. The Congress staged protests inside the well of the House by holding placards, wearing black attire and beating cymbals to protest against the rising atrocities on women during the nine-month tenure of the BJP government in the State. The Assembly also created a record by holding overnight proceedings on the last day on April 2.

Next Story
Share it