Odisha Assembly witnessed uproar by Opposition members leading to an adjournment

Bhubaneswar:13/9/17; The Odisha Assembly today witnessed uproar by Opposition members leading to an adjournment till 3 PM.

As the Question Hour began at 10.30 AM, Opposition Congress and BJP members rushed to the well of the House and created ruckus shouting slogans over non-acceptance of an adjournment motion notice on the rampant practice of percentage commission (PC) in government offices. Unable to run the House amid pandemonium, Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat adjourned the Assembly till 3 PM.

Earlier, an adjournment notice moved by Congress over PC issue was rejected by the Speaker.

“We had moved an adjournment notice for discussion over the PC matter but the Speaker rejected it under the direction of the Chief Minister. We protested it in the House today,” said Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati speaking to reporters outside the House.

BJP MLA Rabi Narayan Naik said they protested in the House as a discussion on the PC issue was not allowed. He also said the PC culture should be stopped in the state and action must be taken against bribe-taking officials.

On the other hand, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) criticised the Opposition members for stalling the proceedings of the House.

“Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had earlier made it clear that the PC culture should be stopped. It is unfortunate that the Opposition members didn’t allow the Question Hour to run properly over the PC matter. A detailed discussion in this regard was held yesterday. They (Opposition members) could have raised the matter during all-party meeting,” said BJD MLA Sameer Das outside the House.