Left members boycott Orissa Assembly Speaker

Bhubaneswar, Mar 28 (UNI) The Left members in Orissa Assembly today announced their decision to boycott the proceedings of the House as long as Speaker Maheswar Mohanty continued to preside over the chair.

When the House assembled for the day to take up the Question Hour with Mr Mohanty in the chair, CPI member Narayan Reddy stood up to say. ''We will not come to the House if you occupy the chair.'' He then quietly walked out of the House without participating in the question hour. Soon after the incident, lone CPM member Laxman Munda also followed suit supporting the stand taken by the CPI member.

The Speaker has been embroiled in a controversy after an FIR was filed against him at the direction of the state Election Commission(SEC) for violation of model code of conduct during the just concluded Panchayat elections in the state.

The Opposition Congress had moved a notice for removal of the Speaker and decided not to attend the proceedings till Mr Mohanty occupied the chair.

The Opposition did boycott the customary address of Governor Rameswar Thakur on the opening day of the Assembly session on March 21 in support of their demand.

Sensing the ''adamant'' mood of the Opposition Congress, the Speaker announced his decision not to preside over the House and delegated the authority to the Deputy Speaker to conduct the business.

UNI