The State Assembly was stalled for a second consecutive day on Saturday as Opposition Congress and BJP members continued demanding a clarification from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik regarding the alleged submission of a false affidavit in the Supreme Court on implementation of the Odisha lokayukta Act.
As the House met for the day, the Opposition members trouped into the Well of the House and started shouting slogans. As they didn't relent despite Deputy Speaker Sanand Marandi's requests, the latter adjourned the House till 3 pm.
During afternoon hours too, the House was adjourned frequently till 4.30 pm. However, normalcy was restored after an all-party meeting held under chairmanship of Speaker Pradeep Kumar Amat.
After the meeting, Government Chief Whip Amar Prasad Satpathy reiterated his earlier statement that the lokayukta affidavit was misinterpreted as per the data availed to him, but he has all respect for the Supreme Court. “We all are bound to abide by the order of the Supreme Court,” he said.
leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra wanted that the Government make a clarification on the lokayukta affidavit that said the Odisha lokayukta Act is in force since January 2015. To this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said the Government would give a clarification on the issue after examining facts and figures.
After this, discussions on the Demands for Grants for the MSME Department were held. The expenditures relating to the MSME and Industries Departments were passed following discussions, Budget Estimates of 24 departments were passed through a guillotine.
According to the schedule, the Appropriation Bill of the Budget 2018-19 would be presented and passed on Monday.