Speaker adjourns Odisha Assembly sine die 20 days ahead of schedule
Dec 11, 2021
Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], December 11 : Odisha Assembly speaker Surjya Narayana Patro on Friday adjourned the assembly sine die, 20 days ahead of schedule due to over ruckus by several members of the Assembly over Mamita Meher murder case.
The winter session which commenced on December 1, was scheduled to run till December 31.
Government chief whip Pramilla Mallick moved a motion proposing sine die adjournment on the session.
Later, BJP MLAs staged a protest near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Assembly premises and slammed the BJD government for protecting State Home Minister Dibyashankar Mishra who is allegedly involved in the murder case.
Dr Mukesh Mahaling, BJP MLA who was protesting at the site said, "Not even a single day passed when the session ran smoothly. We demanded the Chief Minister to come and speak on the Mamita Meher issue in the assembly but he did not turn up there. Moreover, the Odisha government is busy protecting Mishra from the case instead of removing him from the post."
"It is the nature of CM Naveen Patnaik to act like this. He likes to do politics instead of focusing on people's welfare. This is why he did not attend the Vidhan Sabha sessions this time. So far, he hasn't spoken a word on the murder case," another BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra said.
On Thursday, Members of BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) had gheraoed the Odisha Assembly demanding the removal of Minister of State for Home Affairs DibyaShankar Mishra from the State Cabinet over his alleged involvement in Mamita Meher murder case, following which the police resorted to lathicharge protestors.
On October 8, a partially burnt body of 24-year old Mamita Meher was found by the Odisha police from a dug-up pit near a sports stadium in Kalahandi. The teacher, who lived in Turikela tehsil in the Balangir district and taught in school in the Mahalinga area of the district, had gone missing.
On October 26, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President JP Nadda formed a three-member committee to investigate the case of kidnapping and alleged killing of Meher in the under Kalahandi Parliamentary constituency in the state.
The committee included Lok Sabha MP Sunita Duggal, BJP Women Wing President Vanathi Srinivasan and MLA Rupra Mitra.
