Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Legislative Assembly was thrown into chaos on Wednesday as Opposition MLAs protested the deadly fire at Cuttack’s SCB Medical College and Hospital, which claimed 12 lives and injured 20 others. The blaze, reportedly caused by a short circuit in the first-floor Trauma ICU, occurred while patients were asleep, prompting outrage across the state.
Speaker Surama Padhy first adjourned the House until 11:30 a.m. as MLAs raised slogans and demanded accountability. However, the uproar continued when proceedings resumed, with Opposition members insisting on the resignation of Health & Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling. The Speaker later adjourned the House again, this time until 4 p.m., in an attempt to restore order.
During the adjournment, Opposition MLAs staged a dramatic protest inside the Assembly premises. They held a mock funeral to symbolically mark the “death of the state’s health system.” Carrying a sacred pot (Kalash) and fried paddy (Khoi), they offered flowers and chanted “Ram Naam Satya Hai.” Sitting near the staged funeral, the MLAs lamented the tragedy, with some saying, “The health department is now dead, but the Health Minister refuses to resign.”
Both BJD and Congress lawmakers joined in demanding Minister Mahaling’s resignation. Several displayed placards reading, “We demand the resignation of the Health Minister,” disrupting proceedings further.
The SCB Hospital fire has sparked widespread anger across Odisha.
