Odisha assembly speaker warns of strict action against Opposition for disrupting House
BHUBANESWAR: With the budget session of the Assembly scheduled to begin from February 13, Speaker Surama Padhy on Thursday called upon Opposition members to maintain discipline and warned of action if they create a ruckus or disruptions.
Speaking to mediapersons, she said while constructive suggestions from the Opposition would be welcomed, disruptions or obstructions in the smooth functioning of the House will not be tolerated.
“Members should utilise the time to raise matters relating to their constituencies and other emergent issues without creating noisy scenes. The Opposition parties should play a constructive role and give suggestions to the government by participating in debates,” she said.
The Speaker said, this will be discussed at the all-party meeting to be convened by before the session begins. However, both the Opposition parties BJD and Congress reacted strongly to the warning.
Former Speaker and Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik said, “The Speaker should be above party politics and maintain dignity of the constitutional post. Such a warning from the Speaker will have no impact on the functioning of the Opposition in the House.”
Alleging that the Speaker’s statement looked like a direction from the BJP top leaders, Mallik said the party must also remember the behaviour of its members towards her when she was the Speaker for nine months before the 2024 elections.
Speaker warns Opposition of strict action for disrupting House.
Congress legislative party leader Ramachandra Kadam also targeted the Speaker for threatening the Opposition members. “Her warning will have no impact on the functioning of the Opposition members,” he added.
BJP member Saroj Padhi, however, reiterated that strong action should be taken against the Opposition BJD and Congress members for creating a ruckus in the House.
Notably, during the 2024 budget session, two BJD MLAs Madhab Dhada and Romancha Ranjan Biswal tried to climb on the Speaker’s podium on August 17 while another BJD member Dhruba Charan Sahoo had climbed to the podium and broke the microphone. Besides, the pre-lunch session of the House was also disrupted by the Opposition members on almost all sitting days for one reason or the other.
