Bhubaneswar, 20 February (H.S.): The Question Hour in the Odisha Legislative Assembly could not be conducted on Friday due to a strong protest by opposition members over various issues faced by farmers. Legislators from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congressraised slogans, disrupting the proceedings during the first half of the third day of the Budget Session.

Following the disruption, Assembly Speaker Surama Padi initially adjourned the House till 11:30 a.m. and later convened an all-party meeting in an attempt to resolve the situation. Despite repeated requests from the Speaker for members to return to their seats and allow proceedings to continue, the opposition legislators persisted with their protest.

The opposition’s agitation focused on a range of farmer-related issues, including irregularities in paddy procurement, mandi problems, and grievances of cotton cultivators. Legislators held banners displaying slogans criticizing the government’s handling of these matters.

Due to the continued disruption, the Speaker declared the House adjourned from 10:36 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The session resumed briefly, but similar protests and slogan-shouting by opposition members compelled the Speaker to call another all-party meeting to seek a resolution.

It is notable that for the past three days, opposition members have repeatedly disrupted the Assembly to press for attention to farmers’ issues.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda