BHUBANESWAR, NOV. 24: Odisha Legislative Assembly on Friday witnessed an unusual scene as senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra asked questions in Koshali and state industry minister Pratap Keshari Deb replying him in the same language, creating a kind of amusement among the fellow legislators.

During the question hour, the Congress lawmaker Mishra raised a question on the state government’s initiatives in setting up of industries in Bolangir, his home district. The question was put in Koshali language. This appeared quite unusual for the treasury bench members as well as opposition lawmakers as Mishra usually puts his question in English and Odia.

Not to lag far behind, the industry minister Pratap Keshari Deb also took everyone by surprise as he replied in Koshali.

The question and answer session between Mishra and Deb generated a lot of curiosity as well as amusement in the House lawmakers, cutting across party lines, enjoying every bit of the interaction.

Adding more spice to the interaction, ruling Biju Janata Dal’s Rairakhol MLA Rohit Pujari started asking a question in Koshali language.

The interaction among lawmakers in Koshali set tongues wagging in the political corridors. Many viewed it as a planned exercise by the leaders to impress the Koshali-speaking voters of western Odisha districts ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls.

Every time an election approaches, the leaders from western Odisha, evoke the Koshal pride issue. They allege “deliberate and perennial neglect” of the region by the coastal Odisha leaders and demand insertion of Keshali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

On Friday also, BJD leader Arun Kumar Sahoo was seen raising the Keshali language issue and urging the lawmakers to put pressure on the Government of India to place the language in the Eighth Schedule.

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