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Stormy start to Assembly session

— Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

New Beginning: Newly-elected Speaker Kishore Kumar Mohanty on his way to the Assembly hall after receiving the guard of honour on the premises of the House in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

BHUBANESWAR: It was a sort of role reversal on the first day of the monsoon session of the Assembly on Wednesday. Instead of the Opposition attacking the government, legislators of the ruling Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance took on the Opposition disrupting the proceedings.

Everything was going on smoothly till the end of question hour. But almost all the members of the ruling alliance got up when BJD MLA from Athgarh Ranendra Pratap Swain raised the controversial issue pertaining to the recent demand of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha president Shibu Soren for merger of three districts of the State with Jharkhand for creation of Greater Jharkhand.

Holding photocopies of the memorandum that Mr. Soren submitted before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listing various demands, including the merger of Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Keonjhar with Jharkhand, the angry legislators rushed to the well of the House and raised slogans against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.

In an attempt to corner the main opposition Congress, Mr. Swain blamed the UPA government for not issuing a clarification on Mr. Soren’s demand after the demand for merger of the three districts was opposed at all levels in the State.

“The Congress-led government at the Centre remained a silent witness to the unjust demand of Mr. Soren because they wanted to save their government with the JMM support during the trust vote,” Mr. Swain charged.

Speaker Kishore Kumar Mohanty adjourned the proceedings as the ruling alliance legislators stalled the proceedings and did not return to their respective seats.

Stating that they would not even allow merger of an inch of land with the neighbouring State, the alliance MLAs strongly demanded a discussion on the issue in the House.

Members of Congress tried their best to silence members of the ruling alliance by raising slogans, but in vein. They also demanded that the issue be discussed threadbare in the Assembly.

The Opposition was also opposed to the demand raised by Mr. Soren and the issue should be discussed in the House, senior Congress MLA Nalinikanta Mohanty said.

As pandemonium continued to prevail, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings stating that the Business Advisory Committee would take a decision about discussing the issue.

When the House reassembled for the post-lunch session, the Speaker announced the decision taken at the advisory committee that the issue pertaining to Mr. Soren’s demand would be discussed in the House on Thursday, and adjourned the proceedings for the day.

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Stormy start to Assembly session

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