By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 17, 2024: In a bid to check the Mohan Majhi government and to keep the party united, BJD president and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik distributed the assignments among his party MLAs ahead of the upcoming budget session of the state legislative assembly, which is scheduled to begin on July 22.

“The Opposition works as a watchdog of public interests in a democracy. By keeping a close watch on the performance of various departments of the state government and actively participating in the discussions related to them in the Assembly, it can help protect the rights of the people of the state as well as voice their concerns. Accordingly, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik has given responsibility to 50 elected members of the BJD to monitor various programmes of the departments,” said a statement issued by the party.

While former finance minister Prasanna Acharya has been asked to monitor the finance department, former energy minister Pratap Deb will deal with General Administration & Public Grievance, two important departments looked after by chief minister Mohan Majhi. Former minister Niranjan Pujari will monitor home, food, supplies & consumer welfare departments while senior BJD MLA and former agriculture minister Ranendra Pratap Swain will monitor revenue & disaster management departments.

The move to assign more experienced BJD leaders is expected to hold the new government accountable as most of the ministers in the Mohan Majhi government, including CM Majhi himself. It is similar to Britain’s Westminster system, where senior members of the Opposition mark each member of the cabinet by specialising in each of their portfolios, critiquing the government’s decisions and offering alternatives.