BJD to sit in Oppn in LS

Patnaik likely to be sworn in again as CM on Wednesday

“There is no question of supporting the Congress led new UPA government. Our newly elected MPs would sit on the Opposition benches in the next Lok Sabha and continue to fight for the just demands of Orissa”, Pyari Mohan Mahaptra, senior BJD leader widely known as the chief adviser of party President Naveen Patnaik said.

UPA attacked

In fact, party chief Patnaik has launched a scathing attack against the UPA government on the issue of flood relief funds.

“Three days back I received a shocking letter from the Centre asking the state government to return Rs 80 crore out of Rs 98 crore released by the Union government as flood assistance earlier. This shows the Centre’s apathy towards the state. In fact, Orissa has been neglected by successive governments at the Centre for decades,” the chief minister said in an interview to a local TV channel on Sunday. Meanwhile, according to BJD sources, the newly elected MLAs of the party would be meeting on Tuesday to formally re-elect Patnaik as their leader. He is likely to be sworn in as the chief minister on Wednesday.

If sources in the BJD are to be believed, a 21-member new council of ministers may also be sworn in along with Patnaik. In fact, hectic activity has already begun within the regional outfit for the formation of the new council of ministers.
With the BJP no more to share the ministerial berths, observers feel that it will be easier for the BJD leadership to induct more party leaders, particularly fresh faces, into the new council of ministers.

The regional outfit has already made it clear that its allies during the elections – the NCP, CPI and the CPM – would not be part of the new government. “We only had a seat sharing arrangement with them”, Patnaik said. Four NCP candidates including its state unit president, cine star-turned-politician Prasanata Nanda and one CPI candidate have won the assembly elections backed by the BJD.

This is for the first time the BJD will be forming the government in the state on its own.
DH News Service