The Odisha Assembly witnessed unruly scenes for the second consecutive day on Saturday with both the Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, and the ruling Biju Janata Dal members coming face to face with each other over the alleged non-procurement of paddy in the State. The House was adjourned till Monday.
While the BJP and the Congress wanted a concrete assurance from the government over paddy procurement from all farmers, the BJD members demanded that Subash Panigrahi, the BJP MLA who tried to consume sanitiser over the issue on Friday, tender an apology.
Both the Opposition and Treasury Bench members rushed to the well of the House shouting slogans in favour of their demands. “As long as all paddy stocks are not procured in mandis across the State, we will not let the House function normally. The government has betrayed farmers,” charged senior Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati.
Mr. Bahinipati, however, took strong exceptions to the Ministers rushing to the well of the House saying it was against the convention of the Assembly.
BJD MLA Pratap Deb said the BJP member’s bid to consume sanitiser had set a bad precedent.
