Opposition condemns assault on Cong member inside Assembly

Bhubaneswar, Mar 27: All Opposition parties in Orissa Assembly today condemned the assault on a Congress member inside the house in presence of Speaker Maheswar Mohanty.

A resolution passed here at the all opposition party meeting, chaired by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly J B Pattnaik, disapproved the action of ruling BJD member Pratap Jena attacking Congress member Anup Sai in the well of the house.

The resolution, sent to Speaker Maheswar Mohanty, said the Opposition members were not safe inside the Assembly and alleged that the ruling member's action was at the behest of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Talking to newsmen later, Mr Pattnaik and Congress Deputy leader Narashingha Mishra said the Speaker has failed in his duty in protecting the safety of the members inside the house.

Mr Pattnaik said the meeting also decided that the Opposition would continue to disrupt the proceedings of the house till the Chief Minister and Excise Minister Kalandi Behera tendered their resignation.

The Opposition forced the house to adjourn for the sixth consecutive day without transacting any business, demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister.

They held Mr Behera responsible for the recent hooch tragedy in Ganjam district and the Chief Minister for the Maoists attack in R Udayagiri, in which three jawans were killed two government officials kidnapped last Friday.

Orissa Gana Parishad(OGP) member Arun De took a different stand when he questioned the repeated adjournment in the House and said he was prepared to participate in the discussion. BJD members Raghunath Mohanty and Pratap Jena, rising on point of orders, alleged that the Opposition were frequently changing their stand and disrupting the business of the house though several problems were to be discussed in the house.

The Speaker then allowed Finance Minister P C Ghadei and Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal to move their Bill on Fiscal management and Land Reform Amendment Act respectively.

Soon their moved the bill in the din, State Excise Minister Kalandi Behera rose to read a written statement but were obstructed by the Opposition Congress members.

Sensing the mood of the Opposition, the Speaker announced that the demand for grants relating to the Panchayat Raj Department would be taken up through guillotine and adjourned the House for the day.

UNI