India News | Congress Protest over Crimes Against Women Rock Odisha Assembly, Speaker Calls All-party Meet

Bhubaneswar, Mar 21 (PTI) Demonstrations by MLAs of the opposition Congress over crimes against women in the state rocked the Odisha assembly on Friday morning, forcing Speaker Surama Padhy to call an all-party meeting after multiple adjournments failed to normalise the situation.

As soon as the House assembled for the Question Hour, the agitating Congress MLAs hit the Well and attempted to climb the speaker's podium.

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Clad in full black dresses, the Congress MLAs members beat gongs and blew flutes to draw the attention of the speaker, seeking a ruling on the formation of a House Committee to probe into crimes against women in the state.

Unable to run the House, the speaker adjourned the proceedings for an hour till 11.30 am.

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After the assembly reassembled, the protests continued and the speaker adjourned the proceedings for another 30 minutes till 12 pm.

She also convened an all-party meeting in an attempt to normalise the situation.

The House has been rocked by protests on the issue over the last few days.

Senior Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati, who was suspended for a week during a similar agitation over the issue, returned to the assembly and led the opposition demonstration.

"We will continue to protest inside and outside the assembly over violence against women till a House Committee is formed," Congress legislature party leader Rama Chandra Kadam said.

Bahinipati alleged that the state government was making all efforts to suppress the voice of the opposition in the assembly.

"I was suspended for seven working days for demanding the formation of a House Committee," he said.

Senior BJD member Arun Kumar Sahoo said MLAs of his party protested in the House over the decision to restrict the press from taking pictures and videos of the opposition's demonstration in the assembly.

"This act is against the basics of democracy. The people have the right to know how their representatives raise issues in the House. However, the BJP government has restricted the press from taking pictures and videos of opposition members," he alleged.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)