After backlash, BJD also asks CM to reconsider huge hike in Odisha MLA salaries

Last week, the Odisha assembly passed four separate bills that increased the monthly emoluments of MLAs from ₹1.11 lakh to ₹3.45 lakh

Published on: Dec 19, 2025, 19:09:54 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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BHUBANESWAR: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) lawmakers on Friday asked chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi to reconsider the controversial 211% hike in MLAs’ salaries and allowances cleared by the assembly earlier this month.

The Odisha assembly passed four bills to raise the salary and emoluments of MLAs, ministers and other functionaries (PTI FILE)

“Keeping in view the popular sentiments over the proposed hike in the salaries and allowances of MLAs, the BJD requests the chief minister to reconsider it,” Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik told reporters on Friday, acknowledging that the party previously supported the four bills but had deferred to popular sentiment.

Last week, the assembly passed four separate bills that increased the monthly emoluments of MLAs from ₹1.11 lakh to ₹3.45 lakh, those of CMs from ₹98,000 to ₹3.74 lakh, of ministers from ₹97,000 to ₹3.58 lakh and speakers from ₹97,500 to ₹3.68 lakh, effective retrospectively from June 2024.

The pay hike positioned Odisha ahead of even traditionally high-paying states such as Telangana, where MLAs earn around ₹2.50 lakh monthly. In Delhi and Kerala, legislator salaries remain at ₹90,000 and ₹70,000, respectively.

Not a single MLA opposed the pay hike during the discussion on the Bill on December 9.

On December 13, leader of opposition and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Majhi to ask that his enhanced salary be retained by the government. “I would like to request you to utilise the same for the welfare of poor people of our state,” Patnaik said in his letter.

At the time, he was criticised by Congress and BJP leaders, who called it “political grandstanding”.

But a wave of criticism over the pay hike led the BJP leadership to convey its displeasure over the move. On Thursday, ruling BJP lawmakers approached the chief minister to reconsider the hike that has made the state’s lawmakers the highest-paid in the country.

“The BJP MLAs, at a meeting with the chief minister here today, urged him to reconsider the proposed hike in the salaries and allowances of the lawmakers. They have written a letter requesting the CM to reconsider the move, respecting the public opinion,” Odisha parliamentary affairs minister Mukesh Mahaling told reporters on Thursday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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