Tara Prasad Bahinipati suspended from OLA

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly, Speaker Surama Padhy on Tuesday suspended Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati for seven days for creating indiscipline in the House by climbing onto the Speaker’s podium.

Speaker suspended Tara Prasad Bahinipati after Government’s chief whip Saroj Kumar Pradhan proposed his suspension due to his indiscipline in the House.

On the other hand, the Congress legislator staged a dharna in the well of the House protesting action against him. However, the Speaker directed the marshals not to allow him to enter the Assembly for seven working days.

In his reaction over his suspension, Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, “We will sit on dharna infront of the Mahatma Gandhi’s statue throughout the night. In the House, they (BJP MLAs) rebuked, attacked. We informed about it to the Speaker and gave in writing but did not pay any heed. The Speaker is taking partial decision and not hearing our demands. I have been suspended unlawfully. With this they have murder the democracy and are trying to suppress the voice of the opposition leaders. We will request the Speaker to reconsider the suspension. Those who rebuked and attacked us should be suspended.”

Other Congress MLAs also staged a dharna in the House protesting Bahinipati’s suspension. They sat in the house by wearing black bands over their mouths. The BJD legislators also joined them in protest against the suspension and staged a walkout.

Meanwhile, BJD MLA Arun Sahoo said his party men would meet the Speaker tomorrow and appeal her to revoke the suspension of the Congress leader and run the House in an impartial manner.

It is to be noted here that Tara Prasad Bahinipati tried to climb onto the Speaker’s podium yesterday while protesting against the rising number of crime against girls and women and deteriorating law and order in the State.

Besides, a minor scuffle erupted between him and BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra inside the State assembly while the sessions of the House was underway today.