BHUBANESWAR: Odisha assembly speaker Surama Padhy on Tuesday suspended 12 Congress legislators for seven days for disrupting proceedings after the House passed a resolution to this effect moved by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief whip Saroj Pradhan.
The Congress lawmakers were demanding that the assembly constitute a committee of lawmakers to look into cases of crimes against women in the state and staged protests in the assembly, while its members played gongs, cymbals and flutes.
The assembly proceedings have been disrupted over the last few days with members of the opposition Congress and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) raising various issues, including an alleged rise in crimes against women.
Congress MLA Ashok Kumar Das said the legislators had stood their ground. “We stick to our demand for a House committee to investigate rising crime against women in the state. This is a larger public issue, but the treasury benches are not accepting our demands. We will continue our protest till our demand is accepted,” Das said.
The 12 Congress MLAs who were suspended are Rama Chandra Kadam (Pottangi), CS Raazen Ekka (Rajagangpur), Dasarathi Gamango (Mohana), Ashok Kumar Das (Basudevpur), Satyajeet Gamango (Gunupur), Sagar Charan Das (Bhawanipatna), Kadraka Appala Swamy (Rayagada), Prafulla Chandra Pradhan (Kandhamal), Pabitra Saunta (Koraput), Sofia Firdous (Barabati-Cuttack), Mangu Khilla (Chitrakonda), and Nilamadhab Hikaka (Bissam Cuttack).
{{/usCountry}}The 12 Congress MLAs who were suspended are Rama Chandra Kadam (Pottangi), CS Raazen Ekka (Rajagangpur), Dasarathi Gamango (Mohana), Ashok Kumar Das (Basudevpur), Satyajeet Gamango (Gunupur), Sagar Charan Das (Bhawanipatna), Kadraka Appala Swamy (Rayagada), Prafulla Chandra Pradhan (Kandhamal), Pabitra Saunta (Koraput), Sofia Firdous (Barabati-Cuttack), Mangu Khilla (Chitrakonda), and Nilamadhab Hikaka (Bissam Cuttack).
{{/usCountry}}In all, the Congress has 14 members in the 147-member assembly.
Congress MLA Dasarathi Gamang asked why the BJP was hesitating to set up the committee. “Why is the BJP scared? You will see that the Odisha government no longer upholds democracy. Congress is demanding the constitution of the House committee and whatever has happened is totally unacceptable. We were staging a protest in a unique way to put forth our demands. The suspension is unfortunate,” he said, declaring that the Congress would intensify the agitation in the coming days.
Urban development minister Krushna Mahapatra accused the Opposition of stalling assembly proceedings for the last few days and the assembly was left with no option. “Despite requests by the speaker and meetings, they did not pay heed. People of Odisha are watching such disruptions,” he said.
BJD legislator Arun Sahoo said the ruling BJP should have accepted the Congress’s demand and constituted a House committee. “Everything happened due to the inefficiency of the government,” he said.