Politics intensifies over BJD’s ‘shadow cabinet’

After BJD allotted departments to as many as 50 party MLAs for close monitoring, Assembly interventions and other issues relating to various departments of the Odisha government, politics intensified over such a decision.

According to BJD leader Amar Satpathy, had the party president Naveen Patnaik done it before, BJD would not have sat in the Opposition chair.

“Though it is late, the BJD supremo has taken a good step. Earlier, there were some deviations that became issues in the last election,” said Satpathy.

“I think good times are ahead for Odisha. New traditions like- the outgoing Chief Minister participating in the oath-taking ceremony of the new Chief Minister and the Chief Minister replying to the letter of the Opposition leader have started. These kinds of healthy democratic traditions should continue in future. There is no denying the fact that public representatives have great roles to play. The decision to assign responsibilities of different departments to individual MLAs is most welcome. There should be discussions in the Assembly and it should not be adjourned,” said Satpathy.

However, BJP slammed BJD’s initiative of forming a ‘shadow cabinet’

“There is no such thing. We have come across a new word in Odisha politics. The ministers had no opportunity to work during BJD’s tenure. The Opposition party has now given the responsibilities of different departments to the MLAs that doesn’t mean anything,” said BJP leader Samir Dash.