Bhubaneswar, February 16 – The opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is set to aggressively challenge the state government on key issues, including farmer distress, mining cess, corruption, and pollution, during the crucial Budget session of the Odisha Assembly, which begins on Tuesday.
Speaking at a BJD legislature party meeting held at the party’s headquarters here, BJD President and Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik called on party MLAs to adopt a strong and strategic stance against the government and attempt to hold it accountable for its failures on various fronts.
"While the current 'double-engine' government is focused on slogans and photo opportunities, our farmers are spending freezing nights under the open sky at mandis, protecting their hard-earned harvest from dew and theft," Patnaik alleged.
He added that the BJD is the only party that stands with farmers and has been fighting against the anti-farmer attitude of the BJP-led state government. Farmers across the state, he said, are angry with the government over its anti-farmer stance.
Patnaik also referred to his earlier letter to the Chief Minister, highlighting illegal deductions (Katni Chhatni) in the mandis, the 150 quintal ceiling on input subsidy, harassment and delays in payments beyond 48 hours at mandies, distress sales, among other issues.
Calling upon party leaders to target the state government in the Assembly, Patnaik stated, "In the upcoming Assembly Session, we will not allow the Government to hide behind rhetoric. Our strategy must be clinical and relentless. We will use every parliamentary tool – questions, walkouts, and demonstrations on the floor – to ensure that the Government is held accountable for its failures. If the voice of the farmer is not heard in the mandis, it will be heard in the Assembly."
LoP Patnaik also instructed BJD MLAs to raise the issue of the completely collapsed law-and-order situation in the state, the government's failure to fully utilize budgetary allocations, and unresolved Mahanadi water dispute issues during the Budget session of the Assembly.