Stalemate in Orissa Assembly, House adjourned till 1700 hrs
Bhubaneswar, Mar 29 (UNI) Alleging that the Orissa Assembly has been plunged into constitutional crisis, the Opposition today created ruckus, forcing Deputy Speaker Prahallad Dora to adjourn the house till 1700 hrs.
Incidentally, the Assembly could not assemble on March 27.
The Deputy Speaker was forced to adjourn the House as Opposition Congress members trooped into the well, climbed up to the podium, threw microphones and chairs into the well to voice their protest.
It all started when the House commenced at 1030 hrs today, after remaining adjourned for two days following clashes between the Treasury bench and Opposition members last Thursday.
Congress Deputy Leader Narashingh Mishra, rising on a point of order, drew the chair's attention stating that it was illegal to run the house as it could not be assembled at 1030 hrs on Thursday.
But the Deputy Speaker did not pay any heed to Mr Mishra's demand and asked Energy Minister S N Patra to reply to a question.
This caused commotion in the House with the Opposition Congress members rushing towards the well and shouting anti-government slogans.
The agitated members started throwing microphones into the well and rushed towards the podium to obstruct the Deputy Speaker from proceeding further.
The House soon plunged into a pandemonium, forcing the Deputy Speaker to adjourn the House till 1700 hrs. But before that he convened an all party meeting at 1300 hours to sort out the impasse The Opposition boycotted the all-party meeting and made clear that it was unconstitutional on the part of the Deputy Speaker to run the business of the house.
The House witnessed a deadlock on Thursday last after it was adjourned for the whole day without transacting any business over the alleged 'sexual harassment' by Speaker Maheswar Mohanty of suspended lady Marshal Gayatri Panda.
The problem erupted at the House this afternoon, when the Speaker tried to break the deadlock and commence the business despite a din and the podium being occupied by the Opposition, who sat on dharna demanding the resignation of the Speaker and an impartial inquiry against him.
The Opposition, led by Opposition leader J B Pattnaik yesterday met Governor M C Bhandare and urged him to intervene into the affairs of the State Assembly, which they alleged had been paralysed as the Deputy Speaker had failed to commence the house as per the schedule at 10 30 hrs on March 27.
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