The State Assembly was adjourned twice till 3 pm on Tuesday over non-allotment of funds, as alleged by Opposition BJP members, for the recently-announced Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal System for by-poll-bound Bijepur.
However, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik left no stone unturned in giving a sharp reply on the issue and attempting to silence the saffron party members saying, “Opposition parties are shedding crocodile tears”, and requesting them to cooperate in smooth running of the House.
As the House assembled at 10.30 am, BJP members wanted to know why no amount in respect of the Bijepur irrigation project was allotted in the Supplementary Budget presented recently in the House. They demanded a reply from the Chief Minister.
As Speaker Pradeep Kumar Amat didn’t pay any heed to them, the saffron party members rushed into the Well of the House and shouted slogans against the CM and the Government. Unable to run the House, Amat adjourned the sitting till 11.30 am.
When the House reassembled, the Chief Minister made a statement on the issue.
“Bijepur irrigation project is already included in the pre-project activities for which Rs 1.5 crore has been allocated in the Annual Budget, 2017-18. The project was renamed as Gangadhar Mega Lift Irrigation Project recently. The Government has already created a working division at Bijepur with one Executive Engineer, three Assistant Executive Engineers and six Junior Engineers with other support staff to lok after this project exclusively,” said the CM in his statement.
He said, “Unlike others we talk less but our works speaks for itself. We are the only Government to adopt an election manifesto and implementing the same in letter and spirit.”
During the course of Statement, BJP members also raised questions over the efficacy of the Chief Minister’s statement and trouped into the Well of the House.
The Speaker again adjourned the House at 11.33 am till 3 pm on completion of the CM’s statement. However, the House ran smoothly in the afternoon hours.