Congress MLAs beat gongs in Odisha Assembly over issue of women safety

The Odisha Assembly witnessed chaos on Tuesday as opposition MLAs played gongs and raised slogans while protesting over various issues, forcing Speaker Surama Padhy to adjourn the proceedings twice till 12.01 pm.

With proceedings of the Assembly frequently hit by the ruckus, Deputy Speaker Bhabani Shankar Bhoi convened an all-party meeting to resolve the matter.

As soon as the House assembled for the day, BJD and Congress members trooped into the well with placards, played musical instruments, raised slogans, alleging that the BJP government has failed to ensure safety of women and justice to the ST, SC and OBC people.

While the BJD members raised slogans demanding proportionate reservation for ST, SC and OBC students in educational institutions and jobs, Congress MLAs demanded the formation of a House Committee to inquire into the incidents of violence against women that took place during the last nine months after the BJP came to power.

The Congress members beat gongs and cymbals, while playing flutes causing a huge noise in the House. They had done the same earlier also.

Speaker Padhy appealed to the agitating members to return to their seats, but it had no impact.

“Yesterday, the deputy speaker in a ruling has instructed that the members cannot bring musical instruments to the House. However, you (Congress MLAs) are playing them today. This is not acceptable,” she said.

Amid the chaos, the Speaker adjourned the House first till 11.30 am and later for another 30 minutes till 12.01 pm. The House was adjourned barely within one minute of its commencement.

The Congress MLAs have been agitating in the Assembly over the alleged rise in the crimes against women since the beginning of the second phase of the Budget Session on March 7.

One of the senior party MLAs was also suspended for seven days over the issue while staging agitation in the assembly.

After the House was adjourned, the Congress members staged a sit-in near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises while the BJD legislators assembled near the entry gate and raised slogans holding placards demanding reservation for ST, SC and OBC students in educational institutions.