“The monsoon session of the Odisha Assembly beginning Tuesday is likely to be stormy as opposition Congress and BJP are set to corner the Biju Janata Dal government on a range of issues.”
Apart from raising the issue of alleged mismanagement in the Nabakalebara rituals of Shri.Lord Jagannath, both the opposition parties will strongly raise the issue of deteriorating law and order situation in the State in view of the recent incidents of police excesses in handling protesters.
Chief Minister Shri.Naveen Patnaik, who holds the Home portfolio, is likely to face the wrath of the Opposition as frequency of police highhandedness has increased in the recent months. While nine villagers, including two children, were injured during a protest against a liquor shop at Namatara village in Kendrapara district, 20 persons were injured at Belabahali village in Keonjhar district while demanding shifting of the site of a bridge.
In the latest case of police brutality, scores of people were injured when the police lathicharged them in Kendrapara town on August 7. The protesters were demanding arrest of self-styled godman Sarathi Baba. Even though the State government has already suspended Mr.Satish Gajbhiye, former Superintendent of Kendrapara district in the incident, the Opposition is likely to embarrass the government in the House demanding initiation of criminal proceedings and arrest of the IPS officer.
In fact, both the Congress and the BJP have kept fresh the law and order issue in the backdrop of the Kendrapara incident. While the BJP gheraoed the office of the Director General of Police in Cuttack on Friday, the Congress has announced to stage a demonstration outside the Governor’s House in Bhubaneswar a day before the Assembly session begins.
Although the Odisha’s Nabakalebara festival had passed off without much trouble, the Opposition is ready to attack the government on the issue of mismanagement in the Brahma Parivartan, an important ritual associated with the fest.
The issue relating to the temporary suspension of the POSCO project may also figure in the House with the Opposition blaming the State government for its inefficiency in facilitating implementation of big ticket industrial projects.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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