The State Assembly continued to witness frequent adjournments over the power tariff hike for the second day on Thursday with the Opposition Congress and BJP members stalling the proceedings demanding rollback of the decision. As soon as the Question Hour began, Opposition members rushed to the Well of the House waving posters and shouting slogans, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House at 10.32 am till 11.30 am.
When the House reassembled, a similar situation prevailed again. The Deputy Speaker, who was in the Chair, adjourned the House for 30 minutes till 12 pm and then till 3 pm. A meeting of the Business Advisory Committee convened by the Speaker in an effort to find a way out of the impasse was underway then. With little possibility for reaching a solution, the Speaker was also insisting on more time.
In the afternoon session too Opposition members opposed the power tariff hike and created a ruckus amidst which Rural Development Minister Badrinarayan Patra presented an Expenditure of Rs 4296,14,50,000 relating to the Works Department for discussion and passing on behalf of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Speaker Pujari urged the Opposition members to participate in the discussion. But Opposition members expressing strong resentments staged a walk out after a few minutes. Ruling members like Bed Prakash Agrawal, Dr Nrusingh Sahu, Amar Prasad Satpathy and Dr Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik participated in the demand discussion. Then, the Expenditure was passed in the absence of the Opposition members.