Patro gave misleading data: Congress

BHUBANESWAR: The Congress continued to disrupt the proceedings of the Assembly for the second day on Thursday on the announcement of drought package forcing Speaker Pradip Amat to adjourn the House several times.The Congress members demanded resignation of  Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patro for "giving misleading data’’ on the drought situation in the State.Pandemonium broke out as soon as the House resumed for the day. Raising the issue during Question Hour, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh reiterated that the Minister kept the House in dark about the drought package and provided two figures on the number of villages affected by drought.Singh questioned the propriety of the Minister announcing the drought package outside when the House is in session. Further, the Minister also violated the ruling of the Speaker who had directed him to take notice of the views expressed by the members on the drought situation.As the Speaker proceeded with the Question Hour, the Congress members rushed to the Well while some tried to climb onto the Speaker’s podium. The security staff prevented the Congress members from reaching the podium leading to a tussle forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for 15 minutes till 11.50 am. When the House resumed, several Congress members occupied the Speaker’s podium.However, ruling BJD MLAs protested the ‘step-motherly’ attitude towards the State in the Railway Budget. Several members from the BJD, the NCP and the BJP blasted the Centre for neglecting the State.  Ananta Das demanded passing of a censure motion against the Centre which was supported by a number of BJD members. The House conducted business for only 27 minutes during the pre-lunch session amidst repeated adjournments.