BHUBANESWAR, July 23: The Odisha Assembly was adjourned twice on Tuesday after witnessing ruckus for the second consecutive day over the demand of opposition BJD and Congress for action against Governor Raghubar Das’s son for allegedly assaulting a government official earlier this month.
As soon as the House assembled for Question Hour, Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik demanded a statement from Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on the matter.
Assistant Section Officer (ASO) Baikuntha Pradhan was allegedly assaulted by the governor’s son Lalit Kumar at the Puri Raj Bhavan while he was performing his duty during President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the coastal temple town on July 7. After the alleged incident, Pradhan was transferred to the home department.
While Mallik was speaking on the issue, BJD MLAs trooped into the well of the House and demanded Kumar’s arrest for taking the law into his own hands.
“The state government has been shielding the governor’s son. Where was the BJP’s Odia ‘asmita’ (pride) when an official from Odisha was assaulted by a person from outside the state? Though an FIR was lodged at a police station on July 12, no action has been taken so far,” Mallik told reporters outside the assembly after Speaker Surama Padhy adjourned the House for one hour till 11.30 due to the din.
When the House reassembled at 11.30 am, the Congress members joined the BJD lawmakers in trooping into the well and raising slogans demanding justice for Pradhan.
Claiming that the state’s BJP government has failed to provide security to an official who is an Odia, Mallik said, “By shielding the governor’s son, the state government has insulted Odia ‘asmita’, espousing which the BJP came to power in the state. We demand a statement from the chief minister on the matter.”
She also dubbed Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan’s statement on Monday that the Puri collector was probing the matter as “unfortunate”.
“What will the SP, DSP and other police officials do when the Puri district collector has been asked to probe a criminal case?” Mallik said, seeking clarification from the CM, who is also in charge of the home department.
Ruling BJP members Jaynarayan Mishra and Tankadhar Tripathy also sought to counter the BJD and Congress MLAs.
They claimed that the previous BJD government had not taken action against some ministers during its rule despite their names being associated with heinous crimes like murder.
As the din continued, the Speaker requested the agitating members to return to their respective seats. However, chaos continued to prevail, following which she announced adjournment of the proceedings till 4 pm. (PTI)
