Orissa CM injured in Assembly fracas

Orissa CM injured in Assembly fracas

November 3, 2004

The Times of India

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa Assembly on Tuesday witnessed bedlam and scuffle between the treasury bench and opposition members in which Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik suffered a minor injury.

A Congress MLA was suspended for the rest of the session for hurling his chappals into the visitors' gallery.

Opposition Congress members rushed into the well during the question hour expressing dissatisfaction over the reply to a query on the agreement signed between a private company and the state-run Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) for bauxite mining in Kalahandi district.

As they raised slogans against the government and the Chief Minister over the bauxite deal, Congress member Anup Sai hurled his chappals into the visitors' gallery wherein the security personnel were asking cameramen of several TV channels to pack up.

The TV channels were telecasting the question hour live.

This sparked a free-for-all as scuffles ensued between opposition and ruling coalition members, some of whom moved towards the Chief Minister's chair and toppled the desk.

Patnaik's left foot got trapped under the furniture and he was seen in pain, other members rushed to his aid.

After his foot was extricated from under the desk, he was helped out of the house and taken to the nearby chamber of Panchayatraj Minister Damodar Rout where a doctor examined him.

Patnaik was later rushed to the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar for a precautionary X-ray.

Speaker Maheswar Mohanty later informed the house the Chief Minister had not suffered any fracture but there was a sprain. The foot was bandaged and he had been advised rest.