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Opposition seeks minister’s exit over book errors
In Short
As soon as the House assembled for Question Hour at 10.30 am on the second day of the monsoon session, BJD and Congress members, holding placards, trooped into the well and staged an agitation near the Speaker’s podium demanding the resignation of the minister and the repeal of the new mining law.
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Opposition seeks minister’s exit over book errors
Bhubaneswar: Opposition MLAs on Wednesday created a ruckus in the Odisha Assembly demanding the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over errors in school textbooks, leading to the adjournment of the House till 4 pm.
As soon as the House assembled for Question Hour at 10.30 am on the second day of the monsoon session, BJD and Congress members, holding placards, trooped into the well and staged an agitation near the Speaker’s podium demanding the resignation of the minister and the repeal of the new mining law.
The BJD members raised the errors in textbooks issue, while the Congress MLAs demanded the repeal of the MMDR Act. While a section of the agitating members stood on the reporters’ table, another group tried to climb onto the Speaker’s podium.
The treasury bench members were seen silently sitting in their seats even as Opposition members raised anti-government slogans in the well. The agitation gained intensity when Deputy Speaker Bhabani Shankar Bhoi, who was presiding over the proceedings, allowed Science and Technology Minister K C Patra, to respond to the Opposition members’ queries.
Bhoi’s appeal to the agitating members to return to their seats fell on deaf ears, prompting the Deputy Speaker to adjourn the House till 4 pm within five minutes of functioning. After the House was adjourned, the BJD MLAs headed to Mahatma Gandhi Marg to join an agitation by the party’s youth and student wings, who were demanding Gond’s resignation.
“None in the government is taking the moral responsibility for the lapses. With the half-yearly examinations scheduled to begin in the next 15 days, the corrected textbooks are yet to be provided to students. Therefore, the S&ME Minister should immediately resign, as the BJP has always claimed to be a party based on ideology,” said BJD MLA Sarada Prasanna Jena.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP alleged that the Opposition parties were deliberately disrupting the House for their own political interests. The party stated that the State government is ready to hold a debate on all issues concerning the interests of the State, but the Oppostion parities are avoiding debate.
BJP MLA Manas Kumar Dutta alleged that the BJD had earlier submitted a motion seeking a debate in the House as per the rules and procedures of the Assembly, which was also accepted by the Speaker. He stated that the government was also ready to hold the debate, but BJD members, instead of participating, were deliberately disrupting the proceedings of the House to draw attention to the protest, which was organised by the regional party in Bhubaneswar, demanding minister Gond’s resignation over the textbook error issue.
