BHUBANESWAR: Speaker Surama Padhy on Monday sought the cooperation of the ruling BJP and Opposition BJD and Congress for smooth conduct of the Budget session of the Assembly, beginning Tuesday.
Presiding over an all-party meeting ahead of the session, the Speaker stressed smooth proceedings will allow members to raise more issues concerning the people. There should be coordinated effort by the ruling as well as the Opposition members to discuss such issues in the House, she said.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo, deputy leader of Opposition Prasanna Acharya, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik and Congress legislature party leader Ramachandra Kadam attended the meeting among the top leaders.
Talking to mediapersons, Padhy said Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati will address the House on Tuesday, while a discussion on the motion of thanks on his address will be held for two days, on February 18 and 19. Stating that the Budget for 2026-27 will be presented by Chief Minister Majhi on February 20, the Speaker said the two-day discussion on it will be held on February 23 and 24. The Appropriation Bill will be placed in the House on March 31, she added.
The session will continue till April 8, with a recess from February 25 to March 8. Departmental standing committees will meet during the recess and submit their reports when the House will meet after the break on March 9. Three days each have been reserved for government business and private members bill during the session, she said. After the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs minister Mukesh Mahaling said, “We hope all members will cooperate to run the House smoothly.”
Mallik told mediapersons that the BJD has several issues which will be raised in the course of the session.
Kadam said he urged the Speaker to remain impartial and allow the Opposition to raise all issues.