Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly today witnessed unruly scenes as a scuffle ensued between the ruling and opposition members during the Question Hour. More shockingly, Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra grabbed his collar and showed aggressive behaviour towards him.

"Jayanarayan Mishra grabbed my collar. He is a senior MLA and I always respect him. The BJP MLAs are killing the democracy in the state. While we were protesting in the House, the BJP members manhandled us," said Bahinipati while speaking to reporters outside the House.

"As we (Congress members) were requesting the Urban Development Minister to stop replying to a question and participate in the discussion over the rise in crime against women in the state, the BJP members, especially those who have been elected to the Legislative Assembly for the first time, displayed unruly behaviour towards us," he said, adding that the Speaker was biased towards the BJP.

Reacting to Bahinipati's allegations, BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy said the behaviour of the Opposition members was unacceptable.

"Opposition over various issues should take place in a democracy. However, there should be a limit. There is a proper way to protest. While the Urban Development Minister was replying to a question in the House, the BJD and the Congress MLAs tried to break the mic and took away the files from his table. This is not acceptable in a democracy," said Tripathy.

"The Opposition members also threw poster at the Speaker. The BJD and the Congress should apologise for their behaviour," he said.

"There is a competition between the BJD and the Congress to become the leading Opposition party, for which democracy is being killed in the state," he added.

Notably, during the Question Hour, BJD and Congress MLAs rushed to the well of the House and resorted to sloganeering, holding placards. The BJD and Congress members were staging protests against the controversial statement of BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra over Koshal’s merger with Odisha and rising crime against women in the state, respectively.

The chaos escalated when some of them tried to climb atop the podium of Speaker Surama Padhy. Furthermore, a scuffle broke out between the ruling and opposition members, during which a physical confrontation reportedly took place between Tara Prasad Bahinipati and Jayanarayan Mishra.