Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Congress and BJD on Wednesday demanded the immediate withdrawal of the suspension of senior member Taraprasad Bahinipati from the Odisha Assembly. Bahinipati, a senior Congress legislator, was on Tuesday suspended from the Assembly for seven days for “misconduct and unruly behaviour” following a scuffle between members of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress MLAs in the House.

As soon as the Question Hour started at 10.30 am on Wednesday, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rama Chandra Kadam sought to speak on the issue through a point of order.

However, Speaker Surama Padhy did not allow him tospeak during Question Hour, after which the Congress MLAs staged a walkout from the House and sat on a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises. Later, the Speaker asked government chief whip Saroj Pradhan to meet the demonstrating Congress members and request them to return to the House.

Earlier in the day, a delegation of Opposition BJD, led by its Deputy Leader in the Assembly, Prasanna Acharya, met Padhy at her chamber and requested her to withdraw the suspension of Bahinipati.

“We met the Speaker and discussed Tuesday’s unfortunate incident in the House. We requested theSpeaker to reconsider her decision as it appears to have been taken in a hurry. The House is not only for the ruling party or the Opposition. It is for all. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the smooth functioning of the Assembly,” Acharya later told reporters.

The BJD members actively participated in the Question Hour, while Congress members continued their sit-in demanding the withdrawal of suspension of Bahinipati.

The BJP member, Ashok Mohanty, had said the Speaker took action after the Congress member concerned crossed the limit.

“The Congress MLA climbed the Speaker’s podium, rushed to the minister’s seat and disturbed him while replying to the House,” Mohanty said.

Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra said: “I told Bahinipati that you are a senior member and I am giving reply in the House as per the direction of the Speaker.

I cannot defy the Speaker’s direction. He instead attempted to break my microphone.”