Bhubaneswar: Odisha Legislative Assembly’ Monsoon Session, which commences here from 1 September, is likely to be stormy, while the House will function only for eight working days.
Accordingly, Governing BJD, Opposition BJP and Congress held Legislative Party meetings on 31 August, a day before the session and chalked out strategies as to how to deal with the issues.
While the Treasury Bench Members expressed confidence that the regional party was all prepared to face the opposition in the House and ready for discussion on any subject, the Opposition BJP and Congress claimed that they have enough issues to corner the State Government.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Kesari Arukha after attending the BJD Legislature Party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through video conference, said the State Government will move at least 12 bills for their passage in the House.
This apart, the Governing BJD would also raise the issues like Minimum Support Price(MSP) on paddy and others related to the state interest.
“Keeping in view the previous record, it seems that the Opposition parties will try to halt Assembly’s Monsoon session proceedings. We urge them not to focus on creating ruckus at the forum rather discuss with the government in formulating better strategies for the development and welfare of the State,” said senior BJD Member Amar Prasad Satpathy.
BJP Chief Whip Mohan Majhi said that the saffron party would raise the issues like drought, irregularities in paddy procurement, scarcity of urea fertilizer, lack of irrigation, Mahanga double murder case, recruitment scam in staff selection commission, atrocities on women, law and order situation, boundary dispute with bordering states, unemployment, mining scam, reservation for OBC and hike in power tariff in the monsoon session of the Assembly.
The Congress Legislature Party Leader Narasingha Mishra said that the party would raise the OBC quota, law and order situation, Mahanga double murder case and other issues.
The House will commence adhering to the COVId-19 protocol and continue till 9 September, a notification issued by the Assembly Secretariat said.
Meanwhile, DGP Abhay Tuesday reviewed the security arrangements in the assembly before the commencement of the Monsoon Session.
Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack S K Priyadarshi said as many as 35 platoons of police force will be deployed for ensuring security in and around the Assembly premises. A three-tier security force, QAT (quick action team) and striking force will also be engaged to prevent any undue situation at the agitation site in front of the Assembly building at the lower PMG Square.
All the MLAs, Ministers, assembly staff, ministerial staff and members of the media have undergone RT-PCR test before the commencement of the proceedings. Only COVID-19 negative persons will be allowed to enter the building, an official said.
Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro held discussions with Secretary OLA Dasarathi Satapathy and other senior officials of the OLA Secretariat about the smooth arrangements for the session.
