Bhubaneswar, March 19 As the Odisha Assembly proceedings were affected due to the uproar by BJD and Congress MLAs demanding the resignation of Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling over the fire tragedy at the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack for three consecutive days, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday called the opposition protest a "drama".
Majhi also accused the opposition of making fun of the deceased families by holding a symbolic "funeral procession" in the Assembly as a mark of protest.
"I condemn such a symbolic funeral procession by the opposition. They are making fun of the bereaved families by staging a procession in the Assembly," Majhi said while participating in the debate on the Water Resources Department budget discussion.
The chief minister said this when the opposition walked out of the House, reiterating their demand for the resignation of the Health and Family Welfare minister.
The CM said that the opposition should not forget that by disrupting the proceedings, they are ignoring the people's issues, which should be debated in the Assembly.
"Staging 'drama' in the House is completely a negative idea. People have faith in this government for which the ruling party gets public support, be it in the Nuapada by-poll or the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections," Majhi said.
He said that when an incident happens, it has been a tradition to raise it in the assembly. "But after the all-party meeting, the House becomes normal. If not that, they can sit on dharna near the Gandhi statue or approach the governor. We were also doing this when in opposition," Majhi said.
But sadly, Majhi said, "Now the opposition party is not following the democratic practice, but making a drama."
Targeting Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, the chief minister said that he (Patnaik) hardly attends Assembly proceedings. But, now, LoP is attending the proceedings properly. "Our MLAs are saying, what have you done that LoP is attending the House every day," Majhi said.
The CM said the opposition should raise issues in the House and not disrupt it. "Otherwise, 4.5 crore Odias will not forgive the opposition," he said.
Earlier in the day, the Assembly proceedings were adjourned several times as the opposition disrupted the House by staging agitation in the well, displaying placards, attempting to climb the Speaker's podium and raising slogans. They demanded the resignation of the Health minister on moral grounds after the death of 12 patients in a fire at the SCB Medical College ICU on March 16.
Speaker Surama Padhy's appeal to members and an all-party meeting to bring back normalcy during the day also failed to yield any result, as the opposition stuck to one point of the minister’s resignation.
Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik said that the opposition would not allow the House to function until the Health minister resigns. She pointed out that a fire incident had occurred during the BJD rule, and the then Health minister, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, was asked to resign on moral grounds.
"Where is the morality of the BJP government? The government cannot absolve itself of responsibility by ordering a judicial inquiry or suspending four junior-level officers," she said and demanded stringent action against the hospital superintendent and top officials for their negligence that led to the loss of lives.
The opposition members stormed into the well of the House, waving placards and raising slogans, while some attempted to climb the Speaker's podium. Opposition MLAs slammed the BJP government with the chant "Ram nam satya hai" and slogan "Mohan Majhi Hai Hai", targeting the chief minister.
BJP member Irasis Acharya came down heavily on the opposition for disrupting the proceedings while pointing out that the state government has already taken punitive steps in the matter.
"The government has suspended four officials, launched an investigation by a fact-finding team and also ordered a judicial probe into the matter. There is no point in stalling House," he said.
The fire at the Trauma Care ICU of the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on March 16 that killed 12 people and left 11 injured has sparked outrage across the state.