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WATCH: Ruckus in Odisha assembly, politicians spar over BJP MLA's 'suicide attempt'
BJP MLA Subash Panigrahi had tried to take his life by consuming sanitiser in the House while protesting against the state government's alleged apathy towards farmers who are reportedly not being able to sell their paddy in mandis across the state.
WATCH: Ruckus in Odisha assembly, politicians spar over BJP MLA's 'suicide attempt'
The Odisha assembly once again witnessed unruly scenes on Tuesday, as opposition parties, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, created a ruckus in the House over the alleged non-procurement of paddy in the state. Shortly after, ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) legislators demanded an apology over a BJP MLA's 'suicide attempt' inside the assembly.
In a video posted by news agency ANI, legislators could be seen huddling around the podium of the Odisha Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Surjya Narayan Patro, as he requests the House to calm down. The Question Hour session, for which the House assembled at 10:30am, was overrun with MLAs leaving their designated seats and lodging protests before the Speaker. Both the Treasury and Opposition benches shouted slogans in the well of the House.
The BJP and Congress legislators demanded that the state government provide concrete assurance regarding paddy procurement from all farmers. The BJP has also demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expresses regret for his government's "inability" to ensure smooth procurement of paddy from farmers despite assurances.
BJD members, on the other hand, demanded an apology from Subash Panigrahi, the BJP MLA who tried to ingest sanitiser in protest over the issue last Friday. Panigrahi had tried to take his life by consuming sanitiser in the House while protesting against the state government's alleged apathy towards farmers who are reportedly not being able to sell their paddy in mandis across the state.
The BJD members led by party general secretary (organisation) P P Das are demanding an apology from the Deogarh lawmaker for setting a bad precedent by attempting suicide inside the House.
This is the fourth consecutive day that the Odisha assembly faced difficulty in transacting any business over ensuing chaos regarding the issue. The House faced turmoil on Monday as well and Patro was unable to conduct the proceedings of the day. He announced five adjournments in the wake of noisy protests by the legislators of the ruling BJD and opposition Congress and BJP.
Patro had said outside the House on Sunday that the BJP MLA should tender an apology for committing a mistake by making a suicide bid in the House. He had also said that Panigrahi should apologise to bring back normalcy in the House.
(With inputs from PTI)
