BHUBANESWAR: The budget session of the Assembly beginning Thursday is all set to be stormy with the Opposition BJD and Congress ready with their plans to corner the government. While the regional party is likely to raise the bifurcation of the Waltair division, Congress plans to flag farmers and law and order issues.
At the BJD legislature party meeting, leader of Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday asked party MLAs to fight for issues concerning the common people. During the last eight months, the double-engine government does not seem to be working in the interest of the people, he added.
Naveen said the BJP came to power with a bouquet of promises in the 2024 election but in the Union Budget, Odisha has been neglected. Odisha has been neglected in the railway budget and Polavaram dam matters, he said. Similarly, there is no solution in sight for the Mahanadi river water dispute though Centre, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have BJP governments, Naveen said adding, the lack of governance has come to the fore during the last eight months of BJP government in the state. He asked the MLAs to raise these issues.
Addressing a media conference, deputy leader of the Opposition Prasanna Acharya said the Centre has acted against the interest of Odisha by bifurcating the Waltair division, merging its core area with the South Coast Railway (SCR). This has been done in the interest of Andhra Pradesh at the cost of Odisha, he added.
The demand to create a division in Odisha and include Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts, currently under South Eastern Railway (SER), into ECoR has also been ignored, Acharya said adding the BJD has decided to raise the issue in the House.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) presided over by leader Ramachandra Kadam decided to raise the issues of neglect of farmers, deteriorating law and order situation and lack of development initiative of the government. Kadam said Congress will play the role of a genuine Opposition.
However, Parliamentary Affairs minister Mukesh Mahaling said the government is prepared to face the Opposition in the House. The government has implemented all promises including Subhadra Yojana, opening of four doors of the Shree Jagannath Temple, repair of Ratna Bhandar and enhancement of MSP on paddy, Mahaling said adding the Opposition does not have any issue to corner the government.
He said the BJP legislature party presided over by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi discussed strategies to be adopted during the budget session.