The Monsoon session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly in which the complete budget will be tabled will commence from Saturday.
With the opposition including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress ready with several issues to corner the State government, the session is going to be stormy and the new team of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik may have a tough month ahead.
As per reports, the BJP will join the budget session with issues like the migrant problem, farmer problem, Mahanadi water dispute, law and order, electricity tariff hike, near-death education system, disarrayed healthcare, mineral theft, PMAY corruption, hijacking of central schemes, tender fixing and CM Naveen’s foreign tour.
BJP’s Bishnu Sethi said, “Mahanadi has gone dry in Odisha due to BJD’s apathy. Similarly, elephant skeletons are being dug out one after another in the State. Farmers are being forced to return home disheartened with their paddy. We will raise our voices in the Assembly over these issues.”
Similarly, the Congress party will bank on farmer problem, distress sale of paddy, Agniveer scheme, unemployment, bail of prime accused in Mamita Meher murder case etc and try to put the ruling BJD in a tight spot.
Congress Legislative Party leader, Narasingha Mishra said, “Farmers are debt-ridden, the unemployment situation has skyrocketed; there are a lot of issues we can throw at the BJD. We will take a decision after the legislative party meeting.”
While facing the opposition darts in the Assembly is nothing new for the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), this time around it is surely going to be a challenge for the new team that CM Naveen Patnaik has constituted recently.
From the Speaker to Parliamentary Affairs Minister and from the Chief Whip to the Deputy Chief Whip, this is an entirely new team of the BJD. So it is assumed that the next budget session will be a tough job for them.
However, the BJD seemed unperturbed by the allegations and accusations. Speaking to the reporters, BJD MLA, Uma Samantray said, “This is the job of the Opposition. The people of Odisha know the developmental works the BJD has done for them. We are ready for whatever question the Opposition is going to throw at us in the Assembly.”
The first phase of the budget session will continue till July 7. The second phase of the session will commence from July 13 and continue till August 4, making it a 24-day session. The Assembly will be in motion for six hours on each working day.