The monsoon session of the Odisha Assembly came to an end on Saturday even as the legislators of the Opposition Congress and BJP boycotted the proceedings.
The Opposition legislators first walked out of the House on Thursday evening against the manner in which the Odisha Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Bill, 2015, was passed without any amendments. They also remained absent on Friday and Saturday ignoring the request by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister to return to the House.
As the proceedings were conducted in the absence of the Opposition for the third day, Congress legislators, led by Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, staged a dharna near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in protest against the manner in which four Bills were passed.
Mr. Mishra alleged that many important Bills were passed during the session ignoring the amendments suggested by them. As many as nine Bills, including the Odisha Development Authorities (Amendments) Bill, 2015, and the Odisha Police Bill, 2015, were passed in the short monsoon session that had started on August 18.
The Congress legislators also blamed the Naveen Patnaik Government for the recurring deaths in Sishu Bhavan at Cuttack. At least 45 children had died at Sishu Bhavan since August 20. The BJP legislators had on Friday staged a dharna in the Assembly premises against the passage of the Bills without taking the Opposition into confidence, while the Congress legislators had submitted a memorandum to the Governor urging him to intervene in the matter and not to accord his assent to the four Bills.
