First session of 17th Odisha Assembly to begin on July 22, budget on July 25; all-party meeting held for smooth conduct

The first session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly will begin from Monday.

The BJP government will present the annual budget for the 2024-25 fiscal on July 25. This will be the BJP government’s maiden budget and it will be presented by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi who is also in charge of the Finance Department.

As per the schedule announced in the official notification, the session will commence with the address of Governor Raghubar Das on Monday.

The election to the post of Deputy Speaker will be held on July 24.

Meanwhile, an all-party meeting was held before the 17th session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Sunday. The meeting was conducted under the chairmanship of Speaker Surama Padhy. Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, Chief Whip of Opposition Pramila Mallik, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahalinga and senior BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra were present in the meeting.

Though Chief Minister Majhi met Opposition leader Naveen Patnaik earlier and requested him to attend the all-party meeting, the former Chief Minister reportedly skipped the meeting. Congress MLAs also didn’t attend the meeting.

“Opinions from all the leaders were sought and deliberations were made in the all-party meeting that was held for the smooth conduct of the 17th session of Odisha Legislative Assembly starting from tomorrow at 11 am. The session will commence after the address of the Governor,” said Speaker Surama Padhy.

“For the first time, the BJP government has been formed in Odisha and our budget session will also be held. So, the Governor’s address is on the 22nd and Deputy Speaker’s election is on the 24th. Our budget will come on the 25th. Our government under the leadership of CM Mohan Charan Majhi is fully ready for it,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahalinga.

“Deliberations were made in the all-party meeting for the conduct of the 17th session of Odisha Legislative Assembly in a smooth and disciplined manner,” said Chief Whip of Opposition Pramila Mallik.