Odisha Assembly adjourned after ruckus over paddy procurement

The Odisha Assembly was adjourned on Thursday till 12 pm after Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress MLAs created ruckus over pending paddy procurement.

Meanwhile, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs protested demanding action against BJP MLA Subash Pgrahi who earlier attempted suicide in State Assembly by consuming stiser.

Taraprasad Bahinipati, Congress MLA said, " The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister should interfere in this issue. CM Naveen Patnaik is running the government with the support of BJP which is why they are jointly stalling the Assembly."

"We just want the pending paddy procurement to be done," he added.

Dhruba Sahu BJD MLA said, "BJP is attacking democracy by using stiser to commit suicide in the house. The world is suffering from coronavirus. Prime Minister and CM are appealing to save the life of people using stiser and a responsible MLA is giving a wrong message to people by consuming stiser."

"They have no sympathy for poor farmers. In Delhi, people are protesting for MSP. BJP is not demanding quota that FCI has to release for Odisha people and also the balance money our state has to receive from FCI," he added.

Congress MLAs today protested in front of the Gandhi statue inside the Assembly demanding paddy procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The assembly is being stalled by BJP and Congress from the start of the session on March 12.

Earlier on Tuesday, the lawmakers created a ruckus over the issue followed by BJD MLAs demanding an apology from Pgrahi.

Pgrahi on Saturday had said that he had attempted suicide to draw attention to the problems related to paddy procurement in the state.

"Paddy procurement not being done in Debgad area. More than 2 lakh quintal paddy lying unsold. I attempted suicide by consuming stiser to draw the state government's attention to the issue," he said.

The Budget session of the Odisha Assembly commenced on February 18 and will continue in two phases till April 9.

The state budget was presented on February 22.

( With inputs from ANI )