BJD, Congress boycott Odisha governor Raghubar Das's address in assembly, House adjourned for the day

Bhubaneswar: The first session of the 17th Odisha Assembly started on a stormy note with both the opposition BJD and Congress boycotting Governor Raghubar Das's address to the House on Monday over alleged inaction against his son despite allegations of him assaulting an official at the Puri Raj Bhavan.

As soon as the House assembled, Leader of Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik led a walkout of the party lawmakers.

The BJD members were followed by Congress MLAs who also staged a walkout led by its legislature party leader Rama Chandra Kadam.

The opposition parties boycotted the governor's address over the alleged assault on a government servant by Das's son.

Speaking to reporters outside the assembly, Patnaik said, "My party and I were disappointed and surprised to find that the present government has taken no action against the governor's son who had meted out violence to a government officer. We were deeply shocked by this. Law and order seems to have collapsed in our state." "When I was in the government, immediate action was taken if ministers, MLAs, MPs or government servants broke the law. The state government must act according to the law. Because of this, my party members staged a walkout from the House at the beginning of the session," he said.

The Congress said Odia 'asmita' (pride) was hurt as the official, who is an Odia, was allegedly assaulted by the governor's son, who is a non-Odia.

Party lawmaker Taraprasad Bahinipati said, "The governor's son, who is a non-Odia, has assaulted an official, who is an Odia. The governor was yet to take action in this regard even though he was immediately informed. Das had promised to take action against the culprit within seven days. But, no action has been taken so far. Where was the BJP's Odia 'asmita' when the governor was reading out his speech in Hindi?" Bahinipati also rushed to the well of the House demanding the arrest of the accused in the alleged assault case.

At their respective legislative party meetings, both the BJD and Congress decided to raise the alleged mismanagement during Rath Yatra, the assault case involving the governor's son and the "unprecedented" rise in prices of essential commodities during the session, which has 27 sitting days.

The governor's son, Lalit Kumar, had allegedly physically assaulted an assistant section officer (ASO) of Odisha Raj Bhavan (who has now been transferred to the home department) on July 7 in Puri when he was on duty for President Droupadi Murmu's visit. A complaint was lodged at the Sea Beach police station in Puri the next day, but no action has been taken against the accused.

The opposition members, however, later participated in the proceedings when the House made obituary references for former Odisha governor Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, former deputy speaker and ex-ministers Surendra Nath Naik, Damodar Rout, Dambarudhar Ulaka, Kamala Das, and former members V Sugnana Kumari Deo and Aditya Madhi, Padma Shri organic farmer Kamala Pujari and constable Himansu Sekhar Rath, who was killed in a Naxal attack.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam and CPI (M) leader Laxman Munda were among the members who were present when the obituary references were made, following which Speaker Surama Padhy adjourned the proceedings till Tuesday.

The House will reassemble at 10 30 am on Tuesday, Padhy said.