A confrontation erupted between the government and journalists covering the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday after the Assembly Secretariat imposed a ban on scribes carrying mobile phones into the House.

In protest, journalists boycotted the proceedings and staged a dharna under the Mahatma Gandhi statue within the Assembly premises. The standoff was resolved in the afternoon after Speaker Surama Padhy intervened and, following discussions with the journalists, withdrew the restriction.

The protest proved embarrassing for the government after senior journalist Bhagabat Tripathy, 72, fell ill and had to be rushed to the Assembly dispensary.

The ban was imposed after local newspapers published photographs of a scuffle between Opposition and BJP MLAs inside the House on Tuesday. Videos of the altercation had also gone viral on social media.

The Assembly Secretariat argued that mobile phones in the press gallery compromised the dignity of the House and that restricting their use would prevent such incidents from being reported or circulated online.

Senior journalist Partha Sarathi Jena said, “The mobile phone is required for real-time reporting. The immediate provocation for the Assembly Secretariat to take action is the report of the scuffle between senior Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati and senior BJP MLA Jay Narayan Mishra, which has been widely reported. They were engaged in a fistfight during the bedlam that erupted over Mishra’s statement calling Koshal’s merger with Odisha a blunder and criticising the rising crime against women. The photographs appeared in several newspapers. However, things have now been resolved.”

Another journalist, Ramachandi Prasad Ranasingh, emphasised the need to uphold press freedom. “As per the decision, reporters can carry mobile phones but are not allowed to take photos from the press gallery. The phones must remain in silent mode,” he said.