Bhubaneswar: Odisha on Tuesday recommended to the Centre to include the word ahimsa (non-violence) in the Preamble to India's Constitution. A resolution to this effect was passed in the Assembly on Tuesday amidst Opposition boycott.

Congress and BJP MLAs were not opposed to the idea of passing a resolution to include the word in the Constitution, but they wanted more time to study before passing the resolution "hastily."

Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra pointed out that the wordings of the resolution were not in proper order and were not "intelligible." Besides, the resolution was not written in Odia, which was the official language of the state in which it is mandatory to write any resolution in the House.

BJP MLA Pradip Purohit also said that the members needed more time to study the resolution.

Even BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain also opined that the resolution needed a careful study and deliberation before being adopted in the Assembly. However, speaker Pradip Kumar Amat put the resolution to vote and it was passed by voice vote. The BJD has 117 members in the 147-member Assembly.

At the outset, moving the resolution on behalf of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said: "This year, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is being celebrated. The chief minister had laid focus on Gandhiji's principle of non-violence at the preparatory meeting presided over by the President of India on May 2 and suggested the word ahimsa be incorporated in the Preamble to the Constitution. This could be the greatest tribute to the father of the nation on the occasion."

Stating that progress was not possible without peace and social prosperity not achievable without non-violence, Arukh said: "The resolution has been moved in the Assembly by the state government urging the Centre to incorporate the word ahimsa in the Preamble to the Constitution and take necessary steps for amending the Constitution."

In a related development, the Assembly passed another resolution unanimously to name Jhasuguda airport after great revolutionary and freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai.

The airport is going to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 22. The chief minister has written thrice to the Prime Minister in this regard.

The state government has provided 118.75 acres free of cost and Rs 75 crore for construction of the airport. Besides, it has provided all logistic support and waived tax on all the land required for the airport and staff colony.