Furore in Orissa Assembly

Bhubaneswar, Nov 13: The Opposition today stalled the proceedings of the Orissa Assembly during the question hour, expressing their displeasure over the 'evasive' reply of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to a question on the naxalite menace.

The opposition trooped into the well, shouted slogans and tore the question papers to lodge their protest when they failed to get a satisfactory reply from the chief minister.

Speaker Maheswar Mohanty tried to pacify the agitated opposition and even requested them to raise their points in other forums if they were not satisfied with Mr Patnaik's reply.

The opposition, however, did not pay any heed to his advice and continued to occupy the well disrupting the business of the house.

Finding no other option, the Speaker then adjourned the house for an hour. It reassembled after the adjournment but Deputy Speaker Prahallad Dora again adjourned the house for lunch till 1500 hrs.

Earlier, in reply to a question of Congress's Sitakant Mohapatra, the chief minister said 33 civilians and 36 police personnel had lost their lives in the state since 2000 in naxalite violence. He, however, claimed that naxalite violence was much less in Orissa compared to other border states affected by the menace. Mr Patnaik said the extremist problems in the state could not be treated in isolation as it was a national problem posing a challenge to the country's internal security.

Trouble began when Congress members Tara Prasad Bahinipati, L.B.

Mohapatra and Congress deputy leader Narashingh Mishra raised supplementary questions like how many naxalites were killed during the period, what steps had the government taken after banning naxalite outfits in the state and the fate of the negotiation with the extremist groups.

Mr Patnaik did try to reply to all these questions but failed to satisfy the opposition which alleged that he was avoiding their questions.

The opposition was seen on their feet, demanding proper reply to their questions and finally entered the well to voice their protest. This led to pandemonium inside the well forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house without taking any further questions.

UNI