Odisha Assembly disrupted by protests; Speaker calls all-party meeting

Bhubaneswar, Aug 27: The Odisha Assembly today experienced significant disruption as opposition members from BJD and Congress created a commotion over issues of reservation and a caste-based census. Speaker Surama Padhy intervened by calling an all-party meeting to address the chaos and restore order in the House.

As the session began, BJD and Congress members demanded immediate action to ensure reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs in education. During the question hour, legislators from BJD, Congress, and CPI(M) crowded the well of the House, intensifying the disruption with chants supporting a caste-based census.

The uproar led to multiple adjournments during both the question and zero hours. To manage the situation, Speaker Padhy convened an all-party meeting, which helped ease the unrest. The opposition agreed to resume normal proceedings, though Congress requested a statement from the Chief Minister regarding the reservation issue.

Earlier, the disturbance reached a peak when Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati and BJD’s Adhiraj Panigarahi attempted to climb the Speaker’s podium, while BJD MLA Romanch Ranjan Biswal shouted slogans from atop the reporter’s table. With proceedings stalled, the Speaker adjourned the House until 12:30 pm and scheduled an all-party meeting to restore order.