The Odisha Assembly was adjourned till 4 pm on Monday after the Opposition BJP and Congress legislators disrupted the proceedings over alleged leak of the Mathematics paper of the ongoing matriculation examination conducted by the state board. During the day, over 5 lakh students appeared for the Mathematics examination in 3,218 centres in the state. As soon as the House assembled for Question Hour at 10.30 am, the opposition Congress and BJP members trooped into the Well, raising slogans against the BJD government for allegedly failing to conduct the Class 10 board examination in a transparent manner. They alleged that questions from the Mathematics paper have gone viral. The BJP MLAs demanded the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister S R Dash. The minister, however, refuted the allegations. As the House plunged into turmoil, proceedings came to a grinding halt forcing Speaker B K Arukha to adjourn the House till 4 pm. Senior BJP leader and opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi told reporters outside the House that the minister was giving “false information”. He accused Dash of “misleading” the House about the leak as questions have already gone viral. Congress whip Taraprasad Bahinipati also told reporters outside the Assembly that the questions were released in a “planned way to benefit some students”. “It will ruin the future of meritorious students”, he alleged and demanded a thorough probe into the matter and strong action against the culprits.
