nThe State Assembly continued witnessing stalling of its proceedings on a second consecutive day on Tuesday as Opposition Congress and BJP members kept demanding a discussion and a reply from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the rising incidents of minor girl rapes and the deteriorating law and order situation from the beginning of the sitting of the House.
As soon as the House met, all opposition members trouped into the Well of the House and demanded that the Question Hour be suspended and the incidents of minor rapes be discussed. They too demanded that the Chief Minister submit a reply in the House on the matter.
Even as Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro said he has already directed the Government to submit a reply and requested members to participate in the important Question Hour discussions, the opposition members didn’t move back and kept shouting slogans against the Government. They also demanded the Chief Minister’s resignation.
Unable to run the proceedings, Speaker Patro adjourned the House at 10.32 an till 3 pm.
The same situation persisted during the afternoon hours. The Speaker called an all-party meeting to discuss the matter. Subsequently, he adjourned the House time and again till 6.38 pm.
When the House reassembled in the evening, the Speaker announced that the issues raised by Opposition members would be discussed on Wednesday through an Adjournment Motion. He too stated that the scheduled discussions on the Demand for Grants for the School and Mass Education and Higher Education Departments and passing of Expenditures sent to a guillotine to be held on July 30.
It may be noted that the House had also witnessed frequent adjournments on Monday as Congress and the BJP members had raised the issues of minor rapes at Angul and Bhawanipatna and demanded discussion on the issues. The Speaker had asked the Government to submit a statement on the issues.