First session of Orissa Assembly likely today

The first session of the 14th Orissa Assembly beginning on Monday in Bhubaneswar is likely to be stormy with opposition Congress and the ruling BJD set to mount attack on each other.

The first session of the 14th Orissa Assembly beginning on Monday in Bhubaneswar is likely to be stormy with opposition Congress and the ruling BJD set to mount attack on each other.

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While the Congress would attack the Naveen Patnaik government for alleged worsening of law and order situation and Maoist menace, the ruling BJD would sharpen its sword against the UPA at the Centre on development issue.

"We will certainly raise Centre's negligence towards Orissa in the House besides UPA government's delay in revising royalty of minerals", Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters after the BJD Legislature Party meeting on Monday.

Terming the budget session as 'very important', he said BJD would also highlight poverty alleviation and welfare schemes being hit due to Centre's negligence.

"It is shocking that the Centre asked Orissa to return funds released towards flood assistance," Patnaik said.

While acting as a 'constructive opposition', Congress would corner the government on law and order problems, leader of CLP Bhupinder Singh said.

The first session, to open with address by Governor M C Bhandare, would be crucial as the finance minister is likely to present a deficit budget for 2009-10 on June 11.

"The budget session will be in two phases. While the first phase will continue till June 19, the second phase will begin from July 7. The session will end on July 29," Parliamentary affairs minister Raghunath Mohanty said.