The winter session of the Assembly met for just four days against the scheduled 30 days before it was adjourned sine die. Though it was expected that the Opposition political parties will strongly protest the decision of the government, there was only a lukewarm reaction. Except for the walk outs and media bytes outside, there was hardly any protest from the Opposition. Sources said that the ruling party from the beginning had plans that the House would be adjourned after only four days as no MLA wanted to waste time. The Opposition MLAs were also aware about the plans and extended tacit support to it. Despite knowing about the ruling party plans to adjourn the house early, the Opposition disrupted proceedings in the House for two days. This gave the ruling party a chance to state that the Opposition did not want the House to run. In the end, both the ruling party and Opposition MLAs were happy. They wanted to be in the constituency with their voters as elections are less than six months away.
~ Bijay Chaki
BJP, Cong attempt to sway religious sentiments over Ratna Bhandar
After realising that the issue of corruption against the ruling BJD is not cutting much ice among the public, the BJP and Congress have now clung to the emotive issue of Ratna Bhandar. As the general elections are inching closure, the two parties are competing with each other to gain the sympathy of the public by playing to their religious sentiments. The BJP first went to the Orissa High Court seeking a direction to the state government to reopen the Ratna Bhandar to know its condition and the safety of the valuables stored in it. The High Court order appears more advisory in nature. Not to be left behind, the Congress took out a rally in Puri on October 16 demanding reopening of the four doors of the Srimandir and the Ratna Bhandar as well. This was followed by Sankirtan Satyagrah across the state in the second week of November and the party has now planned Tulsi Yatra in December over the twin issues. Perhaps, the BJD also has something up its sleeve to deal with the situation and waiting for the opportune moment.
~Bijoy Pradhan