By Bizodisah Bureau, Bhubaneswar, May 16, 2016 : Odisha Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari on Monday adjourned the Budget session sine die four days ahead of the schedule.

The second phase of the Budget session of the Assembly began on April 26 was scheduled to conclude on May 20.

The ruling and opposition parties have blamed each other for the Assembly being adjourned sine die.

The leader of the Assembly and chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, “It is most unfortunate and a matter of serious concern that the second phase of this important Budget session was continuously stalled by the Opposition affecting the interests of the people and the state. I have also personally taken initiatives to restore normalcy in the House. But the Opposition did not cooperate and continued with their obstructionist attitude for their narrow political agenda at the expense of larger interest of the people of our state. I am really concerned that mature political leaders known for their expertise on law and legislative propriety raised unconnected and irrelevant issues on the floor against law and legislative privilege.”

The Opposition Congress, however, countered the CM’s stance and put the balme on the treasury bench saying, “The ruling Biju Janta Dal had planned to stifle the voice of Opposition. They had decided not to allow Leader of Opposition to speak in the House. They implemented this. Today also I have written to Governor regarding repeated pleas to Governor and Speaker to provide security. In this scenario, whom should we approach so that democracy can be saved and constitution can be implemented,” Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra said.

The sixth session of the 15th Assembly was held in two phases. While the first phase of the session was held from March 15 to March 31, the second phase which began from April 26 and was to conclude on May 20.

The session had 27 working days in which six Bills were passed including the Appropriation Bill and the Odisha Panchayat (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which was passed today.

The budget session of the Assembly all along witnessed uproarious scenes and was clearly dominated by the chit fund scam. Ruckus in the Assembly continued to affect the business of the House over issues like Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sanjay Das Burma’s link with Ponzi firms, Pajero issue, Justice M M Das’ remark on refund to duped chit fund investors and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Narasingha Mishra’s allegations of Rs 8 crore deposited in ruling Biju Janata Dal’s bank account, dharna of SC/ST MLAs demanding implementation of Odisha Reservation of Vacancies (ORV) Act among others.