Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly witnessed repeated pandemonium over the fertiliser crisis in the State, raised by the BJD, prompting the Speaker to adjourn the House till tomorrow.
As soon as the House reassembled at 4:00 AM today, the BJD members once again stormed into the well and created noise, demanding a special discussion on the fertiliser crisis in the State. Unable to run the House, Speaker Surama Padhy adjourned it till 10 AM tomorrow.
A similar scene was witnessed in the morning hour, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the Assembly till 4 PM. The BJD demanded a detailed discussion on the fertiliser crisis during the ongoing kharif season, which has prompted farmers to hit the streets.
During Question Hour in the morning, the BJD MLAs were present in the well, holding placards and raising slogans against the BJP government, accusing it of being “anti-farmer”. The House could function for only four minutes, with Speaker Surama Padhy adjourning the proceedings till 4 PM, as her repeated requests to the agitating members to return to their seats fell on deaf ears.
The BJD agitation in the assembly came a day after Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra admitted that there had been black marketing of fertiliser across the state.
Outside the House, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik said that they were forced to stage the agitation in the well of the House because the government had “ignored the plight of farmers” who have been protesting on the roads. “This government has failed to meet the farmers’ demand, and there has been rampant black marketing of fertiliser across the state,” she alleged.
