Narasingha Mishra

Bhubaneswar, June 11: As the inaugural session of the 15th state Assembly gets under way here tomorrow, the Opposition’s arsenal is full of issues, but its attacks on the government are likely to be blunted by the ruling BJD’s brute majority in the 147-member House.

The contrast in the numerical strength of the BJD (117) and the two main Opposition parties — Congress (16) and BJP (10) — is so glaring that the session runs the risk of turning into a one-sided affair.

The Opposition has lined up issues such as the mining scam, the deposit collection scandal and irregularities in the evaluation of Plus Two examination papers to take on the government, but its firepower will be limited both by lack of experience and numbers in the House.

Sources said that the Opposition would depend almost entirely on the experience of former law minister Narasingha Mishra, who was today elected the leader of the Congress legislature party (CLP) and this automatically makes him the new leader of Opposition in the Assembly. “Armed with immense legal knowledge and legislative experience, Mishra may become a real thorn in the government’s side. But he is perhaps the only one in the Opposition ranks to pose any threat to the treasury benches,” said a Congress leader.

Brimming with confidence because of the huge majority it enjoys in the House, the ruling BJD is also keenly aware of the limitations of the Opposition. Though chief minister Naveen Patnaik advised his party MLAs not to be complacent and ensure their presence the House, he did not in the least appear bothered about the Opposition’s reported strategy to corner him on issues like scams. “We will face any issue raised by the Opposition”, he said almost nonchalantly.

The session will begin with the customary address by governor S.C. Jamir on which the government would later move a motion on thanks. Among the other highlights of the 25-day session would be the maiden budget of the new government to be presented by finance minister Pradip Kumar Amat who, incidentally, was the Speaker in the last Assembly. The last government had presented a vote-on-account in the House in February for the first four months of the current year leading to the general election.

The election of Mishra as the CLP leader notwithstanding there is not much enthusiasm in the Congress camp. The party’s credibility appears to be at an all time low with its Assembly tally having been reduced from 27 in the last House to 16 now. The only occasion when the party fared worse in the state was the 1990 elections when it could manage just 10 seats.

One crisis after another jolted the Congress in the run up to the 2014 elections. The biggest blow, however, was the resignation of the leader of the Opposition, Bhupinder Singh, who crossed over to the BJD. It was like a general deserting his army. To make things worse, Prasad Harichandan, the party’s chief whip in the last Assembly, lost the election from Satyabadi, which has left the party utterly short of experienced leaders in the House.

The Congress leaders, however, sought to put up a brave face following the election of Mishra as the new legislature party leader. “It’s a good beginning. The Congress legislature party will play the role of an effective Opposition under Mishra’s leadership,” said AICC-appointed observer Ajay Maken after the election.

On his part, Mishra assured that the party would fight for the interests of the state under his leadership. “The Congress will always have the state’s interest in mind. We will play the role of a responsible Opposition and try to fulfil the aspirations of the people,” he said.

The BJP legislature party, however, could not elect its leader as the visit of its central observer and Union minister Prakash Javadekar was postponed. State party president K.V. Singh Deo has been asked to act as the BJP’s interim leader in the House till a permanent choice is made. He is among the few experienced party leaders in the House apart from former minister Dilip Ray and two time MLA Basant Panda.