Odisha Assembly: Din over Polavaram dam project, House adjourned twice

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly was adjourned twice on Thursday due to a din created by opposition BJD MLAs over the controversial Polavaram Dam project in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

As soon as the House assembled for Question Hour, the BJD members rushed to the well and staged a protest after their notice for a discussion on the Polavaram issue was rejected by Speaker Surama Padhy.

They shouted anti-BJP slogans and accused the saffron party of sacrificing the interest of Odisha for the sake of its political gains in Andhra Pradesh.

Keeping in view the noisy scene in the House, the Speaker first adjourned the proceeding for about an hour till 11.30 am and later till 12.15 pm.

When his party members were shouting in the Well of the House, BJD's deputy leader in the Assembly Prasanna Acharya claimed that Odisha will be severely affected after completion of the Polavaram project. "Andhra Pradesh government's unilateral and forceful construction of Polavaram project has become intolerable for Odisha. Therefore, we demand a discussion on the matter," Acharya said.

The state government rejected the BJD's notice for a discussion on the Polavaram project stating that the House cannot debate over the matter which was sub judice.

Senior BJD MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo rejected the BJP's argument and said that the Polavarm project's design was changed during the NDA government though it was sanctioned during the UPA government. He rejected the BJP’s argument that the matter under sub-judice cannot be discussed in the House.

"Odisha is in deep trouble over the Polavaram project. Should we wait silently till the dam project inundates our villages because the matter is sub judice?," Sahoo said.

BJP member Irasish Acharya justified the Assembly rejecting the notice for discussion on Polavaram issue. "The Rules of the Business of Odisha Legislative Assembly clearly says that the matter under sub judice cannot be discussed in the House," he said.

The Opposition Congress MLAs were sitting on dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises protesting the suspension of its senior member Taraprasad Bahinipati. The Congress members wear black badges as a mark of protest.