KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, Nov. 20: Opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party put the Naveen Patnaik Government in trouble in the Odisha Assembly for the third consecutive day on Friday demanding that the House should condole the deaths of the farmers who committed suicide in the recent weeks.

Pandemonium prevailed in the House from the beginning of the day's proceedings with the opposition legislators stalling the proceedings over the farmer suicides issue.

Holding the posters of several farmers who had committed suicide, they raised slogans against the government and blamed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the farmers' suicides.

They also observed a minute's silence in memory of the deceased farmers before they rushed to the well of the House to disrupt the proceedings.

There was also reaction from media persons after Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat observed that the incidents not related to the listed businesses for the day should not be reported in the media.

The opposition members who supported the media stand broke the microphone of the Speaker.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Raghunath Mohanty also supported the media stand and later requested the Speaker to reconsider his ruling. The Speake then agreed to Mohany's request.

As the opposition continued to disrupt the proceedings, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings five times before adjourning the businesses till 3 pm. But the proceedings were finally adjourned for the day as the opposition continued to disrupt the proceedings.

The opposition has been blaming the Biju Janata Dal government for not admitting the fact that the farmers were committing suicide due to crop loss on account of scanty rainfall and pest attack.

The government has found itself in a tight spot for the past three days with the opposition MLAs sticking to their stand that the deaths of the farmers be condoled in the House.

The government's announcement about establishment of a Farmers Commission in the state has also attracted criticism from various quarters as the decision was taken in the wake of the farmers' suicides.

Meanwhile, three Left parties such as CPI(M), CPI and Forward Bloc have announced to organise a massive rally in Bhubaneswar on November 24 to demand measures to prevent farmer suicides and take action against all those involved in the illegal mining scam.

The measures announced by the state government for the farmers, including the formation of the Farmers Commission, will not help prevent suicides by farmers who were in deep trouble due to crop loss, loan burden and faulty crop insurance policy, the Left parties said on Friday.