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Orissa assembly session put off due to crisis

Amid high drama and political speculation over the change of leadership in the ruling Congress in Orissa, the winter session of the state assembly, scheduled to commence today, has been deferred to December 10.

Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang, under pressure from the dissidents to quit the post, convened an emergency state ministry meeting at his residence at 0130 hours today to adopt a resolution urging the state governor to postpone the assembly session.

Governor M M Rajendran ordered the postponement of the assembly session at 0400 hours in exercise of his powers conferred under Article 174(1) of the Constitution on the advice of the state cabinet.

The Congress legislature party meeting, supposed to meet at 1800 hours yesterday, has been postponed twice to 2000 hours and then 2330 hours to take up the leadership change issue.

It was finally called off yesterday and is scheduled to begin this afternoon.

Congress observers Madhavrao Scindia and Vyalar Ravi, who arrived in Bhubaneswar yesterday to take stock of the political situation, met 64 of the 81 Congress legislators to elicit their opinion.

The two observers met the legislators, including former chief minister J B Patnaik, Orissas Congress unit chief Hemananda Biswal and several ministers, individually at the state guest house.

But confusion prevailed as, despite the announcement of the CLP meeting at 2000 hours, neither the chief minister nor the Orissa Congress chief turned up to attend the meeting.

About 45 legislators, including some ministers, waited for two hours inside the assembly. They became impatient in the absence of any communication from the leaders as to whether the CLP would meet at all in the night.

The state capital witnessed high political drama when the Congress legislators came to know that the chief minister had convened a meeting of the ministry at his residence in the night.

Some dissidents, including a few ministers, rushed to his residence to protest against the holding of the meeting before the CLP.

The dissidents shouted slogans at the chief minister inside his official residence but they were dissuaded by the observers who promised them that the CLP meeting would be held at 1130 hours after consultation with the high command.

The legislators returned but to their dismay the CLP did not start till midnight although about 45 of them and some ministers were seen waiting inside the assembly.

Gamang, who was holding consultations with the Congress observers and the Orissa Congress chief at his residence, went to the Raj Bhavan at 2300 hours amid speculation that he would tender his resignation or suggest dissolution of the assembly.

The chief minister stayed for two hours at the Raj Bhavan along with the chief secretary and senior officials of the law department and state assembly secretariat to suggest to the governor to postpone the assembly session.

Gamang did not say anything to journalists either at the Raj Bhavan or at his residence. Biswal told newspersons, ''So far Mr Gamang has not tendered his resignation.'' He parried all questions regarding the leadership change demand.

UNI

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