BHUBANESWAR: With the first session of 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly set to commence from June 25, the BJP MLAs will meet on June 23 to elect their legislature party leader who will eventually be the Leader of Opposition. Apart from two Union Ministers, Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi, and State-unit president Basanta Panda, the BJP legislature party meeting will be attended by senior leader and former Union Minister Jual Oram. A Central observer of the BJP will also attend the meeting.
Name of two senior members of the party, Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra and Bhawanipatna MLA Pradipta Kumar Naik, are making the rounds for the post of Leader of Opposition. The two leaders were ministers in the Cabinet of Naveen Patnaik when he was heading the BJD-BJP coalition Government from 2000 to 2009.
Mishra is considered to be a front runner as he is more vocal and articulate. “It is up to the legislators to decide who will be leader of the legislature party in the Assembly. I will do whatever responsibility will be given to me,” Mishra said.
Similar was the response of Naik. The legislator from Bhawanipatna is senior to Mishra in electoral politics. Naik was elected to the Assembly in 1995 whereas Mishra became an legislator in 2000. The issue was discussed at the Wednesday meeting of the party’s office-bearers.
Sources in the party said the BJP Parliamentary Board has left it to the party legislators to select their leader in the House. After winning 23 Assembly seats in the recent election, the BJP has the numerical strength to claim the Leader of Opposition post. However, it is the prerogative of the Assembly Speaker to recognise the main opposition party in the House.
The Assembly session, which will have 30 working days in two phases, will also witness new Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari presenting the Budget on June 28. Appropriation Bill on the Budget for 2019-20 will be introduced in the Assembly on July 31.