By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Assembly on Thursday witnessed a bedlam over Congress national spokesperson Ajoy Kumar’s alleged remarks against NDA Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu that she is anti-tribal.
A faceoff between the BJP and the Congress forced Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha to adjourn the House twice till 4 pm.
The issue was raised as soon as the House assembled for the Question Hour. The BJP members raised anti-Congress slogans and trooped into the Well of the House demanding an apology from the Congress.
BJP Deputy Leader Mohan Majhi said the Congress leader’s remark on Murmu is very unfortunate as Murmu had done many things for the development of tribals when she was a Councillor, an MLA, a Minister of Odisha and Governor of Jharkhand.
The BJP demanded a censure motion be moved in the House against the Congress and its leader.
To counter the BJP, the Congress members also marched to the Well and strongly opposed the BJP members for stalling the House proceedings over an issue not connected with Odisha as Ajoy Kumar is not a member of the House.
Speaker Arukha asked the BJP members to express their opinions during the Zero Hour and allow the Question Hour to take place, but the agitating members refused to comply with.
After the House was adjourned, the BJP MLAs holding banners staged a dharna in the Assembly premises and waved placards against the Congress.
Notably, Ajoy Kumar, a former Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand, reportedly said that Murmu, though a decent person herself, represents an ‘evil philosophy of India’ and she should not be made the symbol of Adivasis.
“Yashwant Sinha is a good candidate and Draupadi Murmu is also a decent person. But she (Murmu) represents a very evil philosophy of India. We should not make her a symbol of the ‘Adivasis’. We have President Ram Nath Kovind, yet the Hathras incident took place. Has he said a word? The condition of Scheduled Castes has become worse,” Ajoy Kumar previously said.
