Bhubaneswar: Amidst the ongoing inaugural session of the 17th Odisha Assembly, the opposition parties BJD and Congress staged a walk-out protest during Governor Raghubar Das’s address on Monday.
Talking to the media, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Naveen Patnaik, said, “My party and I were disappointed and surprised to find that the present government has taken no action against the Governor’s son, who had meted out violence to a government officer. We were deeply shocked by it.”
Adding on, Patnaik said, “Law and order has broken down in our state. When I was in government, ministers, MLAs, MPs, and senior government servants – if they had broken the law – immediate action was taken against them. The state government must act according to law.”
“Because of this, my party marched out of the assembly at the beginning of the session,” Patnaik concluded.
Naveen Patnaik, Leader of the Opposition (LoP)
Taking a similar stance, senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati lashed out at the government and said, “The BJP has formed the government, raising the Odia Asmita issue. However, the government has not filed a case against the Governor’s son, who had assaulted an Odia-origin officer, and the Governor delivered his speech in Hindi.”
“We had asked the Chief Minister to arrest and take strict action against the Governor’s son, who had assaulted a government official. If no action is taken, we will not allow the Governor to speak during the session. We have raised the slogan ‘Governor Go Back!’ during the session. Therefore, we walked out.” Added, Tara.
Concluding his statement, Tara said, “…the protest will continue till the Governor’s son isn’t arrested.”
Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati
