Bhubaneswar, Dec. 14: Speaker Niranjan Pujari today cautioned law minister Arun Sahu and the BJD's deputy chief whip against turning the Assembly into a "fish market".
He warned them not to engage in cross-talk when the Assembly was conducting its proceedings. He made the remarks during Zero Hour when issues pertaining to the state were being raised.
As soon as the Question Hour came to an end and the Zero Hour commenced, BJD deputy chief whip Rohit Pujari went up to the seat of another MLA and began talking to him. Sahu, too, was seen talking to someone.
While the law minister did not make any comments on the Speaker's remarks, Rohit Pujari said: "As the deputy chief whip, it is my duty to see that the House functions properly. In order to ensure this, sometimes I have to talk to the other MLAs. However, the Speaker's order is binding on me. I will keep his caution in mind."
The Assembly also witnessed pandemonium as Congress members created a ruckus over the breach of privilege notices they had given against agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy.
During the Zero Hour, Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das said: "The agriculture minister is misleading the House on the issue of farmers' suicide. The MLAs are not getting the right kind of answer from the minister. He is deliberately avoiding replying to the questions of the MLAs."
He said the agriculture minister admitted that 123 farmers committed suicide in the state, but he did not cite the reasons behind the deaths.
Das moved the breach of privilege notice against the minister and sought the Speaker's ruling on the issue. As the Speaker did not take note of it, the Congress MLAs stormed into the Well, demanding a ruling on the privilege notice. As pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till 12.15pm.
On December 2, Maharathy had replied to a question on farmer suicides in the state. Unsatisfied with his reply, the Congress had, on December 11, moved a breach of privilege notice, accusing the minister of hiding facts about the deaths. Another privilege notice against the minister was given by Congress member K.C. Sagaria.
