Furore in Assembly over defacement of Biju statue

Bhubaneswar, Aug 01 (UNI) Orissa Assembly witnessed furore as the ruling BJD-BJP members stalled proceedings during the zero hour over the defacement of a statue of Biju Patnaik forcing Speaker Maheswar Mohanty to adjourn the house till lunch.

Trouble started when CPI's Narayan Reddy rose to move a privilege notice during the zero hour.He was not allowed to speak by the treasury bench members who started shouting slogans protesting the defacement of Biju Patnaik's statue on July 28.

The treasury bench members led by Usha Devi,Anjali Behera(BJD), Sanchita Mohanty and Droupadi Murmu(BJP) trooped into the well, shouted ''Biju Patnaik amar rahe'' and ''Congress down down'' while strongly condemning the defacement of the statue.

Congress members also rushed into the well to counter them leading to complete pandemonium.

Sensing trouble, the Speaker adjourned the house for 30 minutes at 1134 hours.

The situation remained unchanged even after the house reassembled at 1204 hours. Both the treasury bench and opposition members were seen raising slogans and counter slogans.

Leader of Opposition J B Pattnaik took exception to the unruly behaviour of the treasury bench members and said they were not interested in the business of the house.He then announced that the entire Opposition would stage a walk out in protest against the action of the BJD-BJP members inside the well.

As the Opposition walked out of the house, the Speaker adjourned the business till lunch to 1500 hours.

The BJD-BJP members yesterday staged a dharna near the Biju Patnaik statue inside the Assembly premises to protest the defacement at Raghunathpur in Jagatsinghpur district. The statue was unveiled by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on July 28.

The Jagatsinghpur police has already arrested ten people, including some Congress workers, and seized two vehicles in this connection.

UNI DP PL RD 1349