The Odisha Assembly on Wednesday witnessed ruckus over a privilege notice against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for allegedly attacking the Opposition and lowering the dignity of the Assembly.
Moving the notice during the Zero Hour, Opposition Chief Whip Mohan Charan Majhi referred to the CM’s statement in the House on September 25, which he alleged has insulted the opposition parties and lowered the dignity of the House and its members.
Majhi demanded that the CM tender an apology to the House for his statement.
He said the CM in a suo motu statement in the House on September 25 had stated, "The Opposition is anti-people and people will give them a befitting reply.”
“We had not sought a statement from the CM on the issue. He placed it on his own to shield the 5T Secretary. He termed the Opposition as ‘anti-people”. Who is anti-people? The CM should tender an apology and ensure expunction of the word from the proceedings,” Majhi said.
Countering the Opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Niranjan Pujari dubbed the privilege notice as a political gimmick. On the other hand, the Minister brought a privilege notice against the Leader of Opposition. The Opposition should not use the Assembly as a political platform, he said.
Amid the privilege notice and counter privilege notice, the House witnessed noisy scenes forcing Speaker Pramila Mallick to adjourn the House several times. In the afternoon, the Speaker convened an all-party meeting to run the House smoothly. However, it did not yield any positive result.