Italian hostage crisis: Congress demands Patnaik's resignation

Bhubaneswar: In the wake of abduction of an MLA and the ten-day-old Italian hostage crisis, Opposition Congress today said it is contemplating to bring a no-confidence motion against the Odisha government for its “failure” in tackling the Maoist menace. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has also demanded Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s resignation, Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan said. “We are contemplating to bring a no-confidence motion against the state government for its failure in tackling the Maoist menace in the state,” he said adding that the CLP also favours imposition of President’s Rule in the state after resignation of the CM. [caption id=“attachment_254850” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] Accusing the BJD government of trying to evade discussion on the MLA abduction issue by adjourning the House till Monday without conducting any business, Congress MLAs refused to leave the Assembly in protest. “We will continue to be inside the House even as the Speaker adjourned it till Monday. Congress members wanted a discussion on the protection of MLAs which is not allowed,” said leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh of Congress. Alleging that the Speaker deliberately allowed Patnaik to make a statement on the MLA’s abduction while accepting an adjournment notice on the same subject, Singh said the opposition was never allowed to raise any issue during the question hour. PTI