India News | Odisha Assembly Adjourned Sine Die 20 Days Before Schedule Amid Oppn Protest over Teacher's Murder

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10 (PTI) Unable to transact business amid ruckus over the teacher's murder in Kalahandi, the Odisha assembly was adjourned sine die on Friday, 20 days ahead of the schedule.

Speaker SN Patro announced the culmination of the Winter session, stating that the House has no important official business pending.

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The eighth session of the 16th Assembly, which began on December 1, was originally scheduled to end on December 31, having 26 working days. The session ended while 17 more working days were due.

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The House witnessed stormy scenes over the kidnap and murder of the teacher as the opposition members demanded the removal and arrest of Minister of State for Home DS Mishra, who allegedly shielded the prime accused in the case.

Over the nine working days, no significant business transaction happened in the House with opposition MLAs shouting slogans, blocking the assembly gate, ringing gongs and bells, and sprinkling 'Gangajal' and cow dung for "purification".

The opposition members alleged that minister Mishra allowed the prime accused to escape from police custody on October 17, before he was recaptured on October 19.

The 24-year-old teacher of a private school in Kalahandi district went missing on October 8 and her half-burnt decomposed body was exhumed from the playground of the school on October 19.

The president of the school's managing committee, who is closely associated with minister Mishra, is the prime accused in the murder case, which created a furore in the state.

The Treasury Bench members also staged a demonstration in Well of the House, protesting rising prices in the country and Centre's denial to recognise Paika Bidroha as the First War of Independence. The assembly had on December 7 passed a resolution, seeking the recognition.

On Friday, as soon as the House passed the Odisha Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2021, government Chief Whip Pramilla Mallick moved a motion in regard to adjournment of the assembly.

The motion was passed through a voice vote, while opposition BJP and Congress members walked out in protest.

Mallick cited the lack of official business and the prevailing pandemic situation for seeking the adjournment.

On the first day of the session, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari had presented the Supplementary Budget of Rs 19,833 crore for 2021-22, which was passed easily with the ruling BJD having 113 MLAs in the 147-memebr House.

Following the adjournment of the House, the opposition members dubbed the BJD government "escapist". They also staged a demonstration near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the assembly premises.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was silent over the teacher's murder, had addressed the opposition MLAs through a video message amid the chaos, urging them to run the House smoothly.

He alleged that the opposition was "politicising" the gruesome murder.

In reply, the opposition members demanded that Patnaik should come to the assembly himself instead of addressing through the virtual mode.

At least three all-party meetings convened by Speaker Patro could not resolve the crisis as the opposition was adamant on their demand to sack Mishra.

On Friday, the speaker had to adjourn the proceedings twice amid ruckus in the House.

BJP whip Mohan Majhi said, "We condemn the government's act of curtailing the assembly session. The government has played the role of an escapist by ending the session 20 days ahead of its schedule. The government has been shielding the MoS Home even when his links with the prime accused are exposed."

Congress member SS Saluja said that there has been a remarkable change in Patnaik's governance style.

"We have seen Naveen Patnaik's actions from 2000 to 2019. But now, there is all-out efforts from the government to protect the tainted ministers which were not possible in Patnaik's previous four tenures," Saluja said.

Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra rejected the argument that there was no important business left for the House.

"Who said no important issues were pending? We had given notice for discussion on the law and order situation, the woman teacher's killing and other issues. Premature end adjournment of the House indicates an autocratic attitude of the chief minister," he maintained.

Rejecting the opposition's charges, BJD vice-president and senior MLA Debiprasad Mishra said that instead of discussing the people's problems, the BJP and Congress MLAs continued disrupting the House for nine days.

"The opposition was given enough opportunity to raise issues. If they do not raise people's issues, no one can help," he said.

(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)