Friday, December 9 2005 16:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhubaneswar: Peeved over the Speaker Maheswar Mohanty's abrupt action in adjourning the Orissa assembly sine die last night, the opposition members today (Dec 09, 2005) urged the Governor Rameswar Thakur to invoke provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution 'for the breakdown of rule of law and constitutional machinery in the state'.

Led by the leader of opposition JB Patnaik, leaders of five different parties marched to the Raj Bhavan today and submitted a memorandum to the Governor expressing their distress over the abrupt end of the house.

The opposition members then sat on a dharna in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside the assembly premises for some time to register their protest against the adjournment of the house sine die.

They had also strongly objected to the move to end the winter session and staged walk-out in the house last night.

"Without any convincing reason, the Speaker on a motion moved by the government chief whip adjourned the assembly sine die without consulting the opposition", the memorandum said.

"This action is not acceptable and we have urged the Governor to invoke provisions under Article 356 of the Constitution as this government deserves to be dismissed", the leader of opposition told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan.