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'It was a storm in a tea cup'

The Orissa assembly on Monday witnessed noisy scenes with Opposition members demanding that Chief Minister J B Patnaik issue a statement clarifying the resignation of his council of ministers.

The treasury bench, for its part, maintained it was the party's internal affairs.

The Opposition, raising the issue during zero hour, claimed that a 'constitutional crisis' had been created in the wake of the ministers's resignation.

However, the chief minister maintained that neither had there been any deviation from the Constitution nor any crisis.

''It was a storm in a tea cup,'' he said, adding that his ministers have not submitted their resignations formally. Had they done so, he would have informed the House.

Patnaik said the government and the ministers were functioning with ''full responsibility'' and there had been no crisis in his government. He blamed the media for ''blowing the issue out of proportion.''

Raising the issue, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Biswabhusan Harichandan demanded the assembly be adjourned. He said either the resignation of the ministers be accepted or withdrawn.

There is no government with the resignation of 15 council of ministers, he claimed.

UNI

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