Bhubaneswar, March 26: Surama Padhy, Odisha Assembly Speaker, condemned the disruptive behavior of opposition members following the suspension of 14 Congress MLAs. She stressed the importance of maintaining order and decorum in the House.
Speaker Padhy said the chaos was caused by the opposition's protests, which began in the second phase of the Assembly session on March 7. The protests escalated on March 20, with MLAs wearing black attire, using whistles, and disrupting proceedings with horns and flutes. As a result, Question Hour was held on only two days of the 12 scheduled working days, and the House operated for just 39 hours and 2 minutes instead of the planned time.
Despite several all-party meetings, the opposition's unruly conduct persisted, leading to the suspension of 12 Congress MLAs on Tuesday. Even after the suspension, the MLAs refused to leave the House and staged a sit-in protest in the night. Speaker Padhy also said that, later on Tuesday evening, Congress MLAs, with political workers, attacked Marshals and security personnel, injuring several staff members. On Wednesday, Speaker Padhy suspended the remaining two Congress MLAs for the same reasons.
On the other hand, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the main opposition party, criticized the Speaker's statement, calling it incomplete and partisan. Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya demanded a detailed and comprehensive statement regarding the incident.
