The Hindu : Front Page : Naveen wins trust vote

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Thursday, Mar 12, 2009
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Naveen wins trust vote

Prafulla Das

Congress, BJP MLAs stage walkout

Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

Naveen Patnaik talks to journalists after winning the confidence vote in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. —

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday won the trust vote in the Legislative Assembly amid a controversy over the manner in which the confidence motion moved by him was passed by voice vote.

Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party legislators walked out in protest as soon as the trust motion was passed.

Although both the Congress and the BJP raised the issue before Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare and demanded imposition of President’s rule, Speaker Kishore Chandra Mohanty said no illegality was committed.

Mr. Mohanty said he did not allow a debate on the motion as the model code of conduct was in force. The motion was passed by voice vote as the Opposition legislators did not seek division of votes.

The Chief Minister clarified that many legislators opposed a discussion on the motion on the ground of enforcement of the code. When the motion was put to vote, no one asked for a division and it was passed by voice vote, he said.

Mr. Patnaik moved the motion claiming he had the support of over 74 legislators.

Although the BJD has 61 members in the 147-member House, there were 80 legislators in the House, excluding the Speaker, after the Congress and the BJP members staged a walkout. The 80 comprised 60 from the BJD, seven Independents, five BJP, four Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, two Nationalist Congress Party and one CPI(M) and one CPI members.

After the Congress and BJP legislators met Mr. Bhandare separately at the Raj Bhavan in the afternoon, he summoned the Speaker to know about the proceedings during the special session. He also called for the records. However, no information was forthcoming from the Raj Bhavan till late in the night.

The session was convened as per the direction of the Governor after the Naveen Patnaik government lost the majority following the withdrawal of support by the BJP.

The BJP withdrew its support after it failed to reach an agreement with the BJD on seat-sharing for the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

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