BJD, Congress flay CM’s Agniveer move

BHUBANESWAR: Opposition BJD and Congress have taken strong exception to the announcement made by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on 10 per cent reservation for Agniveers of the state in all uniformed services outside the Assembly when the budget session of the House is in progress.

Opposition deputy chief whip Pratap Deb said the CM should not have made such an announcement when the Assembly session is underway as rules and procedures of the House do not allow this. Not only the CM, members of the cabinet are also inexperienced and are making mistakes. The BJD will raise the issue in the House on Monday.

Deb said there are several ways in which the issue can be raised including bringing a breach of privilege motion against the chief minister. A decision will be taken on this on Monday. The Congress announced that it will bring a breach of privilege against the CM on the issue. “The chief minister should not have announced reservation for Agniveers outside the House. We will bring a breach of privilege motion against him in the Assembly on Monday,” senior Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati told mediapersons.

Bahinipati also criticised Majhi for not raising the demands for special category state status and special package for Odisha at the NITI Aayog governing council meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. Stating that funds for tribal development have decreased over the years, he said the CM did not raise any of these issues in the meeting. Congress will raise these issues in the House, he added.

The CM had announced 10 per cent reservation in all uniformed services and five years age relaxation for Agniveers of the state before leaving for New Delhi on Friday to attend the NITI Aayog meeting.