By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 23, 2026: The Odisha Assembly remained continues to remain paralysed for the fourth day on Monday as BJD and Congress opposition members disrupted proceedings demanding the resignation of Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling following the tragic fire at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on March 16.

The House has been witnessing continuous uproar following the tragic fire incident. Incidentally, Question Hour, Zero Hour and discussions on demands for grants could not be conducted as opposition MLAs raised slogans and entered the well of the House. The BJP government had suspended four fire service officers, transferred the hospital Superintendent and Dean and constituted two inquiry committees. However, the opposition remains adamant, accusing the administration of shielding senior officials while punishing only junior staff.

Speaker Surama Padhy convened an all-party meeting to restore normalcy, but it ended without any resolution. The House was adjourned multiple times—first from 10:44 am to 11:30 am and later till 4 pm—after repeated disruptions by BJD MLAs Romesh Ranjan Biswal and Dhruba Sahu, along with Congress members.

BJD MLA Byomakesh Ray accused the government of deliberately stalling proceedings to hide its shortcomings. Sarada Jena said, “They claim to be a people’s government but are only punishing lower-level employees. We demand the arrest of the Superintendent. Until proper action is taken against the guilty, the House will remain disrupted”.

BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy hit back, accusing BJD and Congress of politicising an unfortunate tragedy to divert attention from their internal crises, especially after poor performance in the Rajya Sabha elections and alleged horse-trading within BJD. “Two committees have been formed, and action has been taken at the ground level. Further measures will follow the inquiry reports. The BJP government is responsible and committed to preventing such incidents in future,” he said. He also blamed the previous BJD regime under Naveen Patnaik for the lapses at SCB, which had once promised to make the hospital a world-class facility.