Mahanga double murder rocks Odisha Assembly; House adjourned till 4 pm

Bhubaneswar, Mar 22: The Opposition BJP today stalled the proceedings of the House since the Question Hour over double-murder case in Mahanga block of Cuttack district. Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro had to adjourn the proceedings first till 11.30 am and later upto 4 pm in view of the Opposition uproar in the House. As soon as the House met today, BJP MLAs trooped into the Well with banners and posters in their hands and shouting slogans against the government. The irate BJP members demanded dismissal of Law Minister Pratap Jena, who has been named in the FIR of the double murder case. They said that former law minister Raghunath Mohanty was dismissed from the ministry as soon as allegations were levelled against him. But why the state government is now keeping silent in case of Jena, asked BJP members. Leader of Opposition (LoP) Pradipta Naik asked how could the accused minister be allowed to sit in this sacred House and demanded ruling from the chair in this regard. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja sought the dismissal of the Law Minister for Mahanga double murder.       The BJP MLAs and Congress member Saluja accused the chair of shielding the accused Law Minister. " Who will be held responsible if another murder takes place in the area? Be it the leader of ruling BJD or that BJP all should be arrested for the crime," said Saluja.     Speaker Dr Patro adjourned the proceedings  till 4pm and convened an all party meeting to ensure smooth functioning of the House. Criticising the unruly behaviour of the Opposition members, BJD MLA Dhruba Sahoo said that causing uproar during the Question Hour and stalling the Question Hour business was not desirable. It has been the habit of the Opposition MLAs to raise uproar over every petty issue and stalling the proceedings.The Mahanga double murder issue could have been discussed in the House later as the budgetary grant of demand of the Home Department is slated to be discussed today.