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Following the suspension 12 Congress MLAs from the Odisha Legislative Assembly, 2 more party MLAs have been suspended on Wednesday, leaving the party without a representative in the assembly till the suspensions are lifted.
The Congress leaders were protesting in the House on the alleged atrocities against MLAs, during which they spent the night in the premises of the House. The party also alleged that their leaders were beaten up while being removed from the Assembly premises. Reportedly, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has also boycotted the assembly session, leaving the House with only Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs. However, the party was protesting on a different issue of OBC reservations, following which they also clashed with the security officials. The suspended Congress leaders had reportedly clashed with police officials as they reached the Assembly in an attempt to enter it. Visuals from the spot showed officials having multiple layers of barricades, while Congress leaders managed to go through the first layer of security. Meanwhile, continuing their protest, party's state in-charge Ajay Kumar Lallu told ANI, "Our MLAs had been demanding answers from CM on atrocities against women in the state. 12 MLAs were suspended from the Assembly only because they raised this issue. This is the murder of democracy. We will fight strongly. The CM will have to answer this." Earlier on March 25, the Congress leaders had spent the night in the Odisha Assembly on March 25, demanding the formation of a House Committee on the alleged atrocities on women. However, after some time, officials removed the protesters from the assembly premises, prompting the sit-in protest to continue outside the state Congress office. Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati alleged that he was beaten up by officials while being removed from the premises. "A house committee should be formed. They are afraid to make it because the truth will come out. When I was there, they hit me, and hit others too. I haven't seen anything like this in my life. I have not seen that the police would get inside the house and assault us, we have been suspended for seven days. Yesterday 12 MLAs were suspended," Bahinipati told ANI. The police also detained several Congress leaders following the clashes. (ANI)
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