'Will V K Pandian run Odisha assembly?' BJP leader's remark sparks row in House

The assembly saw ruckus over farmers' issues.

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly witnessed ruckus on Saturday as opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress MLAs demanded a special discussion on farmers' issues, including deaths following crop loss, while a senior BJP leader accused former bureaucrat V K Pandian of "controlling" the actions of BJD members in the House.

As the House assembled in the morning, BJD and Congress legislators created a ruckus demanding a special discussion on farmers' issues, prompting the Speaker to adjourn the House till noon.

When the House reassembled after the adjournment, it witnessed an uproarious scene as senior BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra accused former bureaucrat V K Pandian, who was close to former chief minister Naveen Patnaik, of "controlling" the BJD members and their actions in the assembly.

Mishra blamed the BJD members for disrupting the proceedings even after the Speaker agreed for a discussion on the farmers' issues.

"Why do they create ruckus and waste valuable time of the House?" Mishra questioned.

"When I asked BJD members about this in the lobby (a common area for MLAs in the assembly), they replied they are doing so under the instruction of Pandian," Mishra said, questioning, "Will Pandian run the House?" Mishra alleged that there is a "competition among BJD MLAs to become Pandian's favourite".

Mishra's statement sparked a row and the House witnessed noisy scenes with the BJD members strongly objecting to the allegation.

They also demanded that Pandian's name be expunged from the assembly records.

"As per norms of the House, the name of a person who is not a member of the assembly should not be taken in the House. If the senior MLA (Mishra) has any proof, he should present it before the House. He should also name the BJD MLAs who gave him such information in the lobby," opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik said.

Senior BJD member P K Deb said they demand a special discussion on farmers' issues and not a debate under the norms of the notice for an adjournment motion which is held for only 55 minutes.

"Since farmers' issues are much bigger and important, those should be discussed in details. We demand a special discussion and not a 55-minute debate," Deb said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling told reporters outside the House, "The opposition plays the role of escapist and does not come for discussion even as the Speaker has allowed for a debate. They (opposition) are afraid of a debate. The BJD does not have the habit of playing the role of an opposition party and is therefore failing in its new avatar." Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati also accused the BJD of disrupting the assembly.

"We had moved an adjournment motion for discussion of the farmers' issues and the Speaker had accepted it. The Congress was ready for the discussion, but the BJD members stalled the House, which is against the interest of the farmers," he said.

Earlier on the day, when the House assembled for Question Hour at 10.30 am, the opposition members trooped into the well even before Speaker Surama Padhy took her seat and raised slogans against the BJP government in the state.

While most of the BJD and Congress MLAs were in the well of the House, Congress member Taraprasad Bahinipati was seen raising slogans standing on a chair near the Speaker's podium.

Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik was present in the House when the BJD and Congress members were agitating in the well of the House.

As the Speaker's repeated appeal to agitating members to return to their seats went in vain, she adjourned the proceeding till noon.

The agitating opposition members BJD demanded that a special discussion be held on the farmers' issues after suspending all the business in the House.

This is for the second consecutive day that the opposition raised the same issue. They also raised slogans on the alleged worsening of law and order situation in the state.

After the adjournment of the House, the BJD members marched to Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on the farmers' issues.

"There is nothing more important than the farmers' plight. The farmers are not being given proper compensation for the crop loss due to the unseasonal rain in December last year. As many as 14 farmers died due to crop loss, some of them due to cardiac arrest. The farmers collapsed on their paddy fields and died, but the government has not given a single rupee as compensation to the next of kin," BJD deputy leader in assembly Prasanna Acharya said.

In the memorandum also signed by BJD president Naveen Patnaik, the regional party sought the governor's interference in alleviating the sufferings of farmers.

"The people of Odisha are resilient, but they need the support of the government to restore their confidence and provide them with the means to rebuild their lives," the BJD said in the memorandum.