Odisha: BJP MLAs urge party leaders to look for new LoP in assembly

Leader of opposition (LoP) Pradipta Naik in the Odisha Assembly has been battling post-Covid complications for the past 14 months and is yet to make a full recovery

Published on: Jun 28, 2022, 09:18:51 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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With current leader of opposition (LoP) Pradipta Naik out of action for over a year, several BJP leaders are urging their party leaders to look for a new leader of opposition in place of the former.

At present, BJP has 22 MLAs in the Odisha Legislative Assembly. (Odisha Assembly/File photo)

Naik has been battling post-Covid complications for nearly 14 months.

Naik, 55, representing Bhawanipatna assembly constituency of Kalahandi district had tested positive for Covid on April 19 last year and was admitted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar the next day. Soon after his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to the ICU six days later. He was also put on ECMO.

Following doctors’ advice at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, he was shifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon in November last year as he continued to battle post-Covid complications.

Also Read:With only 9 days of sitting, Odisha Assembly adjourned amid ruckus

In September last year, Naik participated in the Assembly session virtually from the guesthouse of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Keeping all of this in mind, the BJP MLAs want a new leader to be elected ahead of the Budget session beginning July 2.

Around 15 legislators who had been to New Delhi for the filing of nomination by NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu raised the matter with national president JP Nadda.

BJP MLA from Sundargarh, Kusum Tete, who was among the MLAs seeking election of a new LoP said without a regular leader it was getting difficult for the party to raise relevant issues.

“BJP is not getting due importance in the Assembly as we don’t have a Leader of Opposition, who apart from the chief minister can raise any issue without giving any notice to the Speaker. In all-party meetings, the LoP’s views are taken seriously. As there is no LoP, Congress has snatched the opposition space though we are the main opposition party,” said Tete.

Ahead of the session, Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha has called an all-party meeting on June 29.

Similarly, Baripada MLA Prakash Soren admitted the absence of LoP from Assembly has affected the morale of the legislative party. “Due to absence of LoP, we have not been able to put the government in a dock over several issues including its mismanagement of Covid last year. We have taken up the matter with the state president. Hopefully we will get a new leader soon,” said Soren.

A couple of other BJP MLAs said as Naik would take more time to recuperate, a new LoP was necessary. “The current Assembly has run half its course. As it is the party that has suffered electoral reverses in panchayat, civic and assembly bypoll this year. We have to stop the slide and a new LoP could mark the beginning of our revival,” said a BJP MLA from western Odisha, who wished to not be named.

BJP has 22 MLAs in the Odisha Legislative Assembly out of the total 147 members.

People close to Naik said he was shifted from Medanta Hospital couple of months ago to a guest house next to it where his condition is being monitored by a team of doctors regularly.

“He is still unable to speak coherently. The alveolar tissues in his lungs had hardened and that made him weak. He is now undergoing physiotherapy regularly. He would take at least 2-3 months to make a good recovery,” his private secretary Prasanna Kumar Sarangi said.

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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