Assembly washout over child rapes for second day in row

Bhubaneswar: The BJP and Congress created a ruckus in the assembly for the second consecutive day on Tuesday demanding chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s resignation over ‘rising’ cases of child rapes and children going missing. Speaker S N Patro was forced to adjourn the House for the day.
Three more incidents of rapes of minors were reported between Monday, when the opposition first took up the issue, and Tuesday. While the opposition had not protested during the Question Hour on Monday, they stormed to the well of the House on Tuesday right from the moment it reconvened at 10.30 am. The day’s proceedings were a washout.
The Speaker first adjourned the House till 3 pm, then for a few minutes each for six times and then for the entire day as the opposition was in no mood to relent. In an all-party meeting later, it was decided that there would be an adjournment motion discussion on ‘the issues of child rapes and atrocities against women’.
When the House met for the day, the Speaker asked panchayati raj minister Pratap Jena to reply to a question when the BJP members stormed into the well seeking Naveen’s resignation. The Congress members resorted to anti-government slogans from their respective seats.
“The government is insensitive. We demanded a discussion on incidents of rape cases and missing children. The chief minister has no moral right to continue,” BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi told reporters outside the assembly.
Echoing a similar line, Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra announced that the Congress state unit would resort to state-wide protests over the rising incidents of rape of children. “We will protest across district headquarters from 10 am to 1 pm on Wednesday,” he said.
BJD MLA Debi Prasad Mishra said the opposition’s behaviour was uncalled for. “The Speaker has given a ruling on Monday that the government will make a statement on the issue,” he said.