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Shoes, pens hurled at Odisha Assembly Speaker; BJP MLAs face suspension
Government chief whip alleged that shoes, earphones, etc., were hurled at the Speaker by the deputy leader of opposition, two others.
The Budget session of the Odisha Assembly on Saturday witnessed an ugly spectacle after several BJP leaders allegedly hurled shoes, headphones and pens at Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro’s podium to protest the hurried passage of some bills in the House.
Deputy Leader of Opposition, Bishnu Sethi, said whatever happened in the House was due to the undemocratic attitude of the Speaker. “We wanted a proper discussion on the mining and other issues in the House. Similarly, bills were passed without prior discussion. Though I am aware that shoes were hurled, I have not done it. I only threw a headphone,” he said.
BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra said the Speaker’s conduct of the Assembly was not appropriate as all the rules and norms were being flouted. “No permission was granted to the Leader of Opposition to speak in the House. The Speaker doesn’t have the minimum qualification to hold the post,” said Mishra.
After an adjournment motion brought by the Congress over mining was rejected by Patro, the ruling BJD got two bills passed - Lokayukta Amendment Bill and Societies Registration Amendment Bill. The opposition alleged that the bills were passed without any debate.
The situation turned ugly when some BJP MLAs stood on their seats and hurled shoes, papers, pens and earphones at the Speaker as a mark of protest.
Government chief whip Pramila Mallick alleged that shoes, earphone and papers were hurled by the deputy leader of opposition Bishnu Sethi, BJP MLA Jaya Narayan Mishra and opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi. All three have been suspended from the Assembly. However, the suspension order could not take effect as the Budget session of the Assembly concluded, five days ahead of the schedule.
Meanwhile, BJP members staged a demonstration near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Assembly premises, protesting the suspension order.
“I am not favouring the shoe hurling incident. We could beg an apology for any such incident but I am unaware of who all were involved in the incident. But the Speaker has curtailed all the constitutional guidelines today. He is acting like a worker of a party. As a Leader of Opposition, I was not allowed to speak. The bills were passed arbitrarily amid heavy ruckus. On Monday, we will meet the Governor and apprise him about arbitrary passing of bills,” Leader of Opposition Pradipta Naik said. He added that the BJP members would spend the night at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Assembly premises and hold a press meet at 10 am on Sunday at BJP state headquarters.
BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra said he does not care about the suspension. “We are opposing injustice in the Assembly. If I am suspended for opposing injustice, I would welcome it. The Speaker didn’t allow any of the Opposition members, including the Leader of Opposition, speak during the passage of the bills, which is unconstitutional,” he said.
Mohan Majhi said, “Today is a black day for Odisha as the Speaker has murdered the democracy by gagging the Opposition. I don’t repent or bother about the action taken by the Speaker today”.
Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra condemned the incident and called it “an unfortunate development”.
