BHUBANESWAR : Mounting public backlash and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s displeasure over the threefold hike in legislators’ salary and perks is likely to force a rollback of the decision. The first signs of the impending move came on Thursday with BJP MLAs urging Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to reconsider the decision.
At a BJP legislature party meeting under chairmanship of the chief minister, convened exclusively to discuss the issue, a resolution was adopted for reconsideration of the bill passed unanimously in the Assembly on December 9, approving the steep hike in the legislators’ pay. The bill is yet to gain the assent of the Governor.
Sources in the party told TNIE, after the bill was moved and passed in the Assembly, the chief minister was summoned to Delhi by BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh on December 14. He was conveyed the displeasure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the hefty hike of salary and other perquisites of MLAs as it sent a wrong message to the people as well as legislators of other states and MPs who are getting significantly lesser pay and allowances.
Santhosh is reported to have told Majhi that such an important decision taken by his government without consulting the central leadership was not well received. Majhi was stated to have been advised to roll back the decision and the first step in this direction was to pass a resolution by the legislature party. This would send a signal to the opposition members that such a step had become imperative for honouring public sentiment, the sources said.
Govt had formed panel to review MLA’s pay structure
Incidentally, Santhosh had visited the state on December 10, a day after the Assembly approved the bill, to attend an organisational workshop of the party in Bhubaneswar. He reportedly received adverse feedback from party functionaries apart from strong public criticism against the move. It is believed that he had conveyed this sentiment to the central leadership.
The state government had constituted a committee led by BJP MLA Bhaskar Madhei in early 2025 to address the demands and review the pay structures of legislators. The Assembly unanimously passed four amendments that nearly tripled the total monthly package of an MLA from approximately Rs 1.11 lakh to Rs 3.45 lakh. The hiked salary was to be implemented with retrospective effect from June 5, 2024, leading to substantial arrear payment for the lawmakers.
Sources said, the BJP legislature party had also earlier discussed the decision of the government to move the bill in the recently-concluded winter session where two cabinet ministers had expressed their reservations. One minister suggested that it would be prudent to get the approval of the prime minister
before moving the bill while another advocated for a moderate hike. But, the government had gone ahead with its decision.