By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 22, 2024: It was as usual though the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly commenced on Monday, the 147-member House presented a distinctly different picture for the first time in 24 years. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have swapped positions, with the country’s second longest tenure Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, assuming the role of Leader of Opposition for the first time in his career.

The BJD and Congress blasted the BJP government on the first day of the opening session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly, disrupting the governor’s address. The opposition members also staged walkouts minutes after governor Raghubar Das read out his speech, alleging that the state government was not adhering to the rule of law. As soon as the House began, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik stood up and wanted to know from the government as to what action had been taken against the son of governor Raghubar Das who had recently attacked a government employee in Puri. Supporting Patnaik, his party (BJD) members also stood up and shouted slogans saying the government was dithering to take action against the “accused” who is an “influential person.”

The maiden day as Opposition leader had not gone bad for Naveen either. He promptly led an Opposition walkout from the House on the issue of BJP government’s alleged inaction against Governor Raghubar Das’ son who is accused of assaulting a government employee in Raj Bhawan. By demanding action, BJD quickly seized upon the issue of ‘Odia Asmita (pride),’ a key campaign theme for the BJP in the 2024 election.

We were deeply shocked by this. Law and order seems to have broken down in our state,” said Patnaik while talking to the media after the Assembly session. Naveen further said, “When I was in the government, immediate action was taken against ministers, MLAs, MPs and senior government servants when they broke the law. The Odisha government must act according to the law.”

With Congress joining the rank of BJD in demanding immediate action against Governor’s son, the Mohan Majhi Government announced that the Puri district collector has been asked to inquire into matter and submit a report within 15 days on the alleged assault on a government in employee in Raj Bhawan, Puri on July 7.

Political analysts expressed apprehensions that the BJD president might struggle to assume the role of opposition leader, as he has not been known to participate in protest activities. His public presence has mostly been limited to addressing meetings from a platform or giving brief statements to the media.

The BJD leaders, previously hesitant to express independent opinions while Mr. Patnaik was Chief Minister, are now seen speaking openly to the media. Prasanna Acharya, the Deputy Leader of Opposition, mentioned that many BJD leaders have prior experience in the opposition from their time in the Janata Dal and are well-prepared for their new role.

Demonstrating a proactive stance, the BJD has established a shadow cabinet, assigning various leaders to develop sectoral responses to the programmes and decisions of different departments under Mohan Majhi Government. With 51 seats, BJD is the strongest opposition party in Odisha Legislative Assembly in last two decades. Apart from leading from front as Leader of Opposition, Mr. Patnaik has additional responsible to hold the BJD together.

On the other hand, the new BJP government’s lack of experience in independently leading a government was becoming apparent. The one-month-old government demonstrated its immaturity by initially deciding to remove the legendary Biju Patnaik’s name from a sports award, only to later reverse this decision and retain the name.

Moreover, Mr. Majhi personally visited Naveen Nivas to invite him to participate in an all-party meeting on Sunday. However, the former CM did not attend the meeting ahead of the new assembly’s first day. This gesture did not augur well with BJP leaders, who believed that the CM should not have gone to extend the invitation. They argued that it demeaned the CM’s position and created a public perception that BJP was not ready to lead a government.