Parliament should be allowed to function: Naveen Patnaik, Odisha CM

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik today said Parliament should be allowed to function even as Congress and other non-NDA parties boycotted the Lok Sabha protesting against the suspension of 25 Congress MPs.

"Parliament should be allowed to function. All important issues can be discussed on the floor of the House. There is no point in constantly disrupting the proceedings of Parliament," Naveen told reporters here on his return from Delhi.

Rejecting the Congress' allegation that the BJD was taking the side of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, he said: "That (allegation) is totally incorrect. The correct thing is that the BJD continued to maintain equi-distance from both the Congress and the BJP."

However, he said, "We will take appropriate stand in Parliament when the matter comes up for discussion."

The BJD has 20 MPs in the Lok Sabha and six MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

The leaders of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, led by its president Prasad Harichandan, today staged a demonstration in front of the Assembly protesting against suspension of 25 MPs.