Odisha Assembly witnessed high drama on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with 12 Congress members being evicted from the House following a scuffle with the security staff.

Their eviction was ordered by the Speaker, who also suspended two other MLAs of the party for unruly behaviour on Wednesday morning. With this, the entire Congress legislature party, comprising 14 MLAs, is out of the Assembly for seven days now.

The 12 Congress MLAs whose eviction was ordered by the Speaker for disrupting the proceedings of the House refused to leave and staged a sit-in protest that continues through the night. They were forcefully evicted from the House at midnight around 2am on Wednesday.

Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, “We were sleeping near the podium in the House. They entered the House at midnight and assaulted us and hit me. They had even snatched away my gold chain. I will lodge an FIR at the police station.”

The main Opposition, BJD, which extended support to the Congress, also boycotted the House. Later in the afternoon, the BJD returned to the House and accused the government of denigrating the dignity of the Opposition.

Since Tuesday, the atmosphere in the Assembly had been tense following the Speaker’s decision to suspend the MLAs and the BJP government’s refusal to form a House Committee to probe the rising crime against women in the state.

Speaker Surama Padhy suspended the 12 MLAs earlier on Tuesday after they resorted to beating gongs and playing the clarinet inside the House.

After the Speaker suspended the MLAs, they refused to vacate the House. The situation turned ugly on Tuesday night when senior Congress leaders went to meet the MLAs who were sitting on a dharna. The police denied them entry into the Assembly premises.

Later, at the Speaker's direction, the House marshals forcefully evicted the MLAs at midnight, leading to a scuffle. The Congress legislature party leader Rama Chandra Kadam sustained injuries in the process.

As soon as the House commenced for the day, two Congress MLAs, Tara Prasad Bahinipati and Ramesh Jena, who were not suspended on Tuesday, continued to beat gongs, urging the Speaker to direct the government to form a House Committee. The Speaker later suspended the two MLAs.

Ahead of the Assembly session on Wednesday, the suspended Congress MLAs tried to enter the premises, which again resulted in an altercation. Congress MP Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka said: "They are trying to implement the Gujarat model of administration here."

The BJD protested the Speaker's decision to suspend the Congress MLAs. BJD MLA Pramila Mallick also raised the issue of atrocities against women and asked why the Congress MLAs were suspended, maintaining that it was not a good look for a democracy. The BJD then staged a walkout. “The Speaker is acting in a partisan manner,” the Opposition alleged.