Odisha Assembly Adjourned Amid BJD Protest On Curtailment Of PRI Powers

(MENAFN- IANS) Bhubaneswar, Sep 22 (IANS) The logjam in the Odisha Assembly continued on the fourth day of the monsoon session on Monday due to a huge ruckus by opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over the alleged attempt by the government to curtail the power of elected representatives under the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

As soon as the house proceedings began, the BJD legislators stormed into the well of the House and staged a noisy protest, shouting anti-government slogans in front of the Speaker's podium.

Congress MLAs standing on their respective seats staged a silent protest inside the House, holding placards calling the opposition BJD and ruling BJP as brothers, who don't let the House function.

Despite the uproar, Speaker Surama Padhy attempted to conduct the Question Hour. The Law Minister was seen replying to questions of some ruling party MLAs, but the protest by BJD members continued unabated.

The Speaker appealed to the agitating legislators to maintain discipline and cooperate for the smooth conduct of proceedings.

Amid noisy protests by the BJD and a placard demonstration by the Congress, the Question Hour continued briefly for around seven minutes before the ruckus forced the Speaker to adjourn the House till 4 p.m.

Speaking to media persons, BJD chief whip Pramila Mallik said,“The Panchayati Raj system has been dismantled. After the BJP-led government came to power, it first halted various projects being implemented in the blocks. It then hatched several conspiracies to weaken the Panchayati Raj system. Through various circulars, the government has now planned to strip all powers vested in the elected representatives under the Panchayati Raj system.”

She also demanded that the state government immediately ensure the decentralisation of power by restoring the authority to the elected representatives, which they enjoyed earlier.

She slammed the state government for delegating the powers vested in elected representatives at the grassroots level to government officers, such as the Block Development Officer.

Notably, the BJD had earlier announced to stage a gherao of the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday. On the other hand, Congress CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam alleged that both the ruling BJP and the main opposition BJD had conspired together to prevent discussions on the no-confidence motion moved by the Congress in the House through pandemonium.

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