Sudarsan Maharana
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Feb 2: The budget session of the Assembly, set to commence February 6, may once again witness uproarious scenes with the Opposition gearing up to attack the government on the chit fund scam, the proposed Vidhan Parishad and other issues.
“We will continue to bring up the chit fund scam on the floor of the House until the perpetrators of the multi-crore ponzi scam are brought to justice and genuine investors get their hard-earned money back,” Congress chief whip and legislator from Jeypore Taraprasad Bahinipati said.
During the winter session in December last year, the House had run only for 14 days. The Speaker adjourned the proceedings bringing to an end the session that was scheduled to continue till December 20 after the chief whip of the ruling BJD moved a motion submitting that the House cannot run due to non-cooperation of Congress legislators.
Now, Congress and BJP MLAs have again decided to stick to their single-point demand for a discussion on the chit fund scam, sources indicated.
Apart from the chit fund scam, Bahinipati said other issues such as the land scam, mining scam and state government’s failure in procuring paddy and stop distress sale will also be other weapons in the hands of Congress and BJP to corner the ruling party.
The Opposition also plans to take the government head on over the issue of the proposed Vidhan Parishad in the state as the Congress and BJP claim they were not taken into confidence by the government before arriving at a decision on the matter.
“The issue of establishing a Vidhan Parishad must be discussed on the floor of the House. We have every right to know how much money will be spent on it and how the state government is planning to bear the additional financial burden. The state government must reconstitute the committee after that for maintaining transparency in this process. Else, we will not accept its decision,” MLA and leader of the BJP legislature party in the Assembly Basant Kumar Panda told Orissa Post.
All parties will soon hold separate legislature party meetings in order to prepare their final strategy, sources said.
“We are ready to face the Opposition and we will answer their questions. Despite Speaker’s rule on several issues including chit fund scam, the members of the Opposition continuously disrupted proceedings of the House due to which we failed to discuss many issues of public importance,” said BJD MLA and party spokesperson Amar Satpathy.
“We expect cooperation from the Opposition this time. They will be given a chance to discuss on the issue of Vidhan Parishad if a bill on this is tabled. Our government is committed to bring a budget which will ensure more development in the state,” Satpathy added.
