Speaker Niranjan Pujari's ruling on the issue of alleged illegality done by a former Minister and a present Minister sparked outrage and uproar in the Assembly on Thursday.
Opposition BJP members staged demonstration in the well of the House demanding a statement from the Chief Minister. The continuous uproar forced two consecutive adjournments in the pre-lunch Session.
Due to the ruckus, the Opposition sponsored adjournment motion relating to alleged poor implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act in the State could not be discussed.
The trouble started during Zero Hour when members of the Opposition BJP rushed to the well and shouted slogan demanding a clarification from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the issue of the alleged involvement of a Minister in the illegal construction of apartments and allotment of a number of plots and houses to the family members of a former Minister and presently a BJD Rajya Sabha MP. They said the favour under discretionary quota was done by a present Minister for a former Minister violating the established rules.
BJP legislature Party leader Basanta Kumar Panda through a point order said though former Minister Sarada Nayak and Minister Puspendra Singh Deo had informed the House about the involvement of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjaya Dasburma in the illegal construction of apartment in the capital city and a case has been registered by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) for violation of housing law against Dasburma, the Chief Minister was silent over the issue.
Panda also raised the issue of taking five plots of Government land by former Parliamentary Affairs Minister and BJD Rajya Sabha MP Kalpataru Das. He alleged that five plots of land were allotted in favour of Das, his son, wife and a company owned by his son. His son is now the MlA from Dharmasala. It was done in clear breach of the rules, Panda alleged. He said MP Das also allegedly established an ITI in his constituency by encroaching upon a Government land illegally and demanded a clarification from Chief Minister Patnaik.
Panda on Wednesday had also raised the issue and sought a statement from the Chief Minister for the information of the House. However, Speaker Pujari ruled that since the issue had already been discussed in the House earlier, there was no scope for the member to raise the issue again. On the contrary, he asked Information and Public Relations Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak to make his preliminary statement.
Irked over the Speaker's ruling, all the BJP members, including lady member Radharani Panda, rushed to the well, beat table on the Speaker's podium and tried to snatch the pen stand and the microphone on the table. Some of the irate members were seen attempting to climb to the Speaker's podium. The Speaker adjourned the House twice till 3 pm.