Bhubaneswar : Citing the “dictatorial attitude” of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the Odisha assembly, Congress legislators on Saturday appealed to Governor S.C. Jamir to recommend invoking of President’s rule in the state.
“If a ruling party with brute majority is determined not to allow the opposition to have their say, where stands democracy?” said the memorandum submitted to the governor by Congress legislators led by the Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra.
“This amounts to breakdown of the constitutional machinery and therefore, sir, your intervention is absolutely necessary,” the memorandum said.
The Congress MLAs appealed to the governor to recommend dissolution of the assembly to the President of India.
Mishra told reporters here: “We can no more tolerate the dictatorship of the ruling party. We in the opposition tried our best to help the speaker run the House. But the ruling members are in no mood to cooperate with us. So we placed our demand before the governor that President’s rule should be invoked in the state.”
He said the Leader of Opposition is not allowed to have his say on the floor of the House.
The state government through its spokespersons and ministers have been openly making statements that they would not let the opposition members speak in the House, he added.
Mishra said the Congress legislative party demands resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his involvement in the chit fund scam and immediate appointment of a Lokayukta so that the allegations against him can be inquired into.