Finance
The inaugural session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly is slated to begin on Monday, with the newly established BJP government in the state led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Governor Raghubar Das will deliver the opening address of the Assembly session.
Following tradition, Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhi called an all-party meeting on Sunday to request members’ help in keeping the House running smoothly.
Meanwhile, in a rare show of statesmanship, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Deputy CM Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo paid a visit to Naveen Niwas, the residence of former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik, and invited him to an all-party meeting aimed at fostering a spirit of cooperation for the Assembly’s smooth operation.
The Chief Whip of Biju Janata Dal and former Speaker Pramila Mallik represented the LoP at the all-party meeting, but no members from the Congress or the Communist Party of India were present.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure the session runs smoothly; the Odisha police have deployed a 30-platoon force under the direction of DCP Bhubaneswar. DGP Arun Sarangi reviewed security plans on Sunday.
Notably, the Deputy Speaker election is slated for July 24, and the BJP government will propose its first budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 in the parliament on July 25.
The budget session will continue from July 22 till September 13.
