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Opposition stalls proceedings

Special Correspondent

Presses for discussion on law and order situation

— Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

All for land: Tribal activists of Koraput staging a demonstration in front of the Assembly in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes on Wednesday, with the Opposition demanding a special discussion on the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the State.

Opposition members stalled the proceedings by rushing to the well of the House as soon as the zero hour began, forcing Speaker Maheswar Mohanty to adjourn for 30 minutes.

Holding placards with ‘Orissa Jaluchhi’ (Orissa is burning) written on them, the legislators shouted anti-government slogans and demanded that the issue of law and order be discussed before the House proceeded with any other business.

When the House resumed after the break, the members continued stuck to their demand saying that the issue cannot be taken lightly by the government.

As normality did not return, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till afternoon. When the House resumed again at 3 p.m., the opposition legislators again demanded for a discussion on the law and order situation. When the Speaker did not give any ruling on their demand, they staged a walkout. They, however, returned to the House afterwards and participated in the proceedings.

The law and order issue was discussed threadbare in the first phase of the ongoing Budget session. However, the Opposition was demanding another round of discussion on the issue following a few incidents, including the death of a youth allegedly due to beating up by the policemen in Athgarh area of Cuttack district a few days ago.

The scene on the Mahatma Gandhi Marg outside the Assembly was equally full of action. A series of demonstrations and dharna marked the day, with people urging the government to fulfil various demands.

A large number of tribal women from Koraput district participated in a dharna organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to highlight their five-point charter of demands.

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