The monsoon session of the Assembly beginning on Tuesday is likely to be stormy as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will counter the Opposition onslaught against the State Government by raising several issues, including the demand for Special Category State (SCS) status for Odisha and export of onion by the Centre leading to rise in its price.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the BJD will raise several issues during the session, including the demand for SCS status for Odisha, export of onion by the Centre leading to the rise in its price and the delay in revision of royalty of minerals.
Besides, the BJD will also oppose the Food Security Bill, Naveen told mediapersons after the meeting of the BJD Legislature Party (BJDLP).
The Congress is, however, ready to counter the BJD on these issues.
What was the Chief Minister doing for the last 13 years, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh asked in response to the BJD’s decision to raise the SCS demand for Odisha in the House.
Naveen was a Union minister and the Chief Minister of the State when NDA was in power at the Centre, Singh said and added why had he not raised these issues then.
Criticising the Chief Minister for trying to convert the SCS demand for Odisha as an election plank of the BJD, Singh said the Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution in this regard.
But the Chief Minister did not convene a meeting of all political parties to discuss the issue and prepare a memorandum to be submitted to the Centre, Singh said.
The chit fund scam, deteriorating law and order situation and neglect of the farm sector and farmers will be the main issues during the session, he added.
The Congress will also raise the issue of price rise as it is primarily the responsibility of the State Government. “Does the Chief Minister want the Centre to intervene to keep the prices of onion and vegetables under check,” Singh asked.
However, there was thin attendance in the meetings of the BJDLP and CLP.
While the BJDLP met for only 30 minutes, only 15 out of 27 Congress MLAs were present at the meeting attended by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Jaydev Jena.
The MLAs are busy for selection of candidates for the urban local body (ULB) polls, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kalpataru Das said.