Odisha cabinet nod to plan for Vidhan Parishad

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha cabinet on Friday approved a proposal to set up a Vidhan Parishad, or upper house, a move seen as beneficial to chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s party, which hopes to return to power for a fifth term in 2019.

The state government will introduce the resolution in the monsoon session of the assembly in September. Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra said Indian National Congress will oppose the resolution. BJP in the state has also accused Patnaik of acting purely in his party’s interest.

The resolution should get through an assembly more than two thirds of whose members belong to Biju Janata Dal (BJD). It will then need the approval of the Union Cabinet, both houses of the Parliament, and finally the President.


“What is the point of aspiring for another house when the assembly sees weak participation, substandard proceedings, (and) suffers from a shortage of staff?” Mishra told ET.