Tensions boiled over in the Odisha Legislative Assembly Wednesday as BJD and Congress lawmakers unleashed a fierce protest against Health Minister Dr. Mukesh Mahaling, calling for his resignation following the deadly blaze at SCB Medical College in Cuttack. The fire, which killed 12 people, has ignited widespread outrage over safety standards in public hospitals.
Question time turned chaotic when opposition members, armed with protest banners, rushed the Speaker’s chair. Slogans rent the air, highlighting administrative failures that allowed the disaster. Speaker Surama Padhi repeatedly suspended sessions amid the melee.
Undeterred, the protesters organized a mock funeral march inside the assembly complex, symbolizing the ‘death’ of healthcare accountability. They pressed for Rs 1 crore per victim’s family, rejecting the state’s Rs 25 lakh aid as insulting.
Naveen Patnaik, BJD supremo, lambasted the BJP government: ‘Our administration saw a minister step down morally after a private hospital fire. Now, with mass deaths in a state-run facility, they shield theirs. Urgent reforms are needed across Odisha’s health sector.’
Echoing this, Congress’s Tara Prasad Bahinipati declared, ‘Hospitals meant for healing have morphed into killing fields. People’s anguish reverberates statewide, ignored by those in power. Today’s ‘funeral’ procession channels that fury—the minister’s resignation is non-negotiable.’
BJP’s Manas Datta hit back, calling the fire ‘heartbreaking’ but the opposition’s tactics ‘shameful politicization.’ He and party colleagues argued that sacking the minister alone fixes nothing, advocating for constructive dialogue instead.
This high-stakes confrontation reveals fault lines in Odisha’s political landscape, with the opposition leveraging the tragedy to challenge the ruling BJP’s health policies head-on.