Oppn stalls Odisha assembly over special category issue

The issue was raised by Opposition leader Bhupinder Singh in the house which reopened after six-day break

The state assembly on Tuesday witnessed unruly scenes with the Opposition Congress protesting speaker Pradeep Amat's decision to refuse debate on grant of special category state status to Odisha.

The issue was raised by Opposition leader Bhupinder Singh in the house which reopened for business after a six-day break.

With speaker refusing to accept an adjournment motion on the issue of special category state status, the Congress MLAs trooped to the well of the house.

While the Congress MLAs staged demonstration in the well unrelenting in their demand for discussion on the 'special category state status', members of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staged a parallel protest, condemning the alleged gangrape of an Odia working woman in Delhi.

The pandemonium forced the speaker to adjourn the house repeatedly. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik in his proposal requested the speaker to allow discussion on the matter through a consensus by all political parties on April 4.

"The state government is avoiding debate on the issue of 'special category state status'. Its demand has only been confined to writing letters," Opposition leader Singh said outside the house.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kalpataru Das, however, said the government was not scared of a debate on the matter. The matter relating to special category state status needs to be debated separately and not through an adjournment motion, he stated.

Opposition chief whip Prasad Harichandan accused the BJD of raking up the special category state issue for vote bank politics. This government has no real intent for ensuring special category tag for Odisha, he said.