Odisha assembly witnesses uproar over Nupur Sharma issue

Bhubaneswar, July 2: Odisha Assembly witnessed an uproarious scene over the Supreme Court observation on suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma issue on Saturday, the first day of the monsoon session. Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukh adjourned the house several times after members of both Congress and BJP stormed into the well and created an uproar. Later, the House was adjourned till 4 pm. The issue was raised by Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra during the zero hour, which was strongly protested by BJP members. The House adjourned till 4 pm. Citing Supreme Court's scathing criticism of Nupur Sharma, Mishra said the court had observed that the statement might have been made with ‘political intention’. It means the apex court has indirectly slammed the BJP and union government, he said. “The Prime Minister and Home Minister have no right to continue in power. So, they should tender resignation,” Mishra told reporters outside the House. As the SC has said that the entire country is on fire for Sharma’s remark, such incidents may occur in Odisha too. Therefore, the Chief Minister should come up with a statement to put forth his stand on this issue, demanded the Congress leader. Quickly responding to Mishra, BJP deputy leader Bishnu Sethi said the Congress government at Rajasthan has not resigned following murder of a tailor in Udaipur. “Congress is in power in the state where the barbaric killing of a tailor took place recently. Did the CM resign after the incident?” asked Sethi. And, Nupur Sharma is not a member of the House, so, why would there be a debate on her controversial remarks, he questioned. Sethi also informed the House that BJP has already suspended her and she has also apologized for the same. He targeted the Congress over the issue of Kashmir Pandit exodus. Speaker B.K. Arukha said the person concerned (Nupur Sharma) is not a member of the House, so no discussion should be held in this regard. As the opposition members continued to uproar on the floor, he adjourned the proceedings for 10 minutes twice and then, till 4 pm. Earlier in the day, the House paid tribute to former MLA Late Surendra Nath Kanhar.