Bhubaneswar: Creating a system similar to UK’s shadow cabinet, BJD president and leader of the opposition Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday allocated specific departmental duties to 50 MLAs of his party to keep tabs on govt work.
The move, which BJD claimed is aimed at fulfilling its role as a robust and proactive opposition in the assembly and outside, drew criticism from the BJP, which claimed that when Naveen was chief minister, he rarely allowed his ministers to take charge of governance.
Naveen gave each MLA one or two departments to closely monitor govt’s functioning and intervene in the assembly. Some departments like scheduled tribe affairs and Mission Shakti will have more than one BJD MLA assigned for better monitoring.
“This move, coming ahead of the budget session of Odisha assembly on July 22, aims to enable them to effectively oversee and analyse particular policy domains, while also confronting their respective counterparts within the cabinet,” read a statement released by BJD.
Stating the opposition party is the watchdog of public interest, BJD said by keeping a close watch on the performance of various departments of the state govt and actively participating in the discussions related to relevant departments in the assembly, BJD will discharge its responsibility as an effective opposition and carry out its duties more efficiently.
BJD sources said with 51 members in the 147-member assembly, the party which had governed the state for 24 years, will strive hard to become an efficient opposition. The party plans to play its cards well to do better in future elections and stay relevant, BJD insiders said.
Senior BJP leader Samir Mohanty criticised Naveen’s move, calling it absurd. He pointed out that during Naveen’s tenure as chief minister, he relied heavily on a select group of bureaucrats to run his govt.
“Ministers were often unaware of the happenings within their own departments under Naveen’s leadership,” Mohanty said.
Accusing Naveen of making a mockery of governance during his time as CM, Mohanty said, “Instead of conducting a thorough review to understand the reasons behind the party’s rejection by the people, Naveen and his party are engaging in a superficial exercise to appear serious about the matter.”

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