Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA of Deogarh Subash Panigrahi attempted suicide by consuming sanitiser during the ongoing budget session in the Odisha Assembly on Friday.
State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha and other MLAs stopped Panigrahi from taking the extreme step. Reportedly, Panigrahi aim was to bring attention to the paddy procurement problems in Odisha by attempting suicide.
Panigrahi told reporters outside the House that farmers in Odisha are going through a crisis. “More than 2 lakh quintal of paddy is lying unsold. Farmers are going through a crisis. I had consumed a few drops of sanitiser before the other MLA took the bottle from me,” he said, adding that it was a desperate attempt as there was no solution.
Paddy procurement has been a major issue in the Odisha Assembly. Since the start of the second phase of the Odisha Assembly, the opposition has created a ruckus over the issue leading to repeated adjournment. On Saturday, the house was adjourned once again after oppostion created ruckus again over pady procurement.
The opposition (BJP and Congress) have alleged that the Naveen Patnaik government has betrayed the farmers over paddy procurement.
Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said the House would not be allowed to function until paddy is procured from the farmers in the state. Another Congress leader Narasingha Mishra asked if the government has not honoured its promise of paddy procurement then why should the House function. He also put out a tweet regarding the paddy procurement problem.
Opposition leader Pradipta Kumar Naik said that the Odisha government had assured that paddy would be procured from authentic farmers however, despite such assurance paddy has not been procured yet.
