Nirvik Bureau, Bhubaneswar, 19 July 2024
Leader of the opposition in Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, recently allocated ministries and departments to all his 50 MLAs. Akin to a Shadow Cabinet, which is quite common and popular in the Westminster system of government, each MLA would closely scrutinise the work and policies of the real minister heading such ministries and departments. This is perhaps a first in the political history of Odisha. And it augurs well for our system of checks and balances, as the main opposition would keep the Government on its toes.
This novel step by the BJD reflects its political savviness and also its seriousness in playing its new and unexpected role of an opposition. Citizens of Odisha should welcome this move. They perhaps already have an inkling that the decision to create a Shadow Cabinet seems to be the brainchild of V.Karthikeyan Pandian. He might have withdrawn from active politics but he continues to be the chief advisor of Naveen Patnaik.
One serious weakness that does not quite make it a true Shadow Cabinet is its jumbo size. When there are less than 20 ministers in the BJP government, to foist a 51 member “Shadow Cabinet” (including the leader of opposition as the Shadow CM) lacks ingenuity. The endeavour should have been to cover all the ministries and departments and that would not have exceeded 30. It seems to be a move to make all the elected MLAs feel important and that is never the rationale for a Shadow Cabinet.
Be that as it may, one hopes that this display of political savviness by the BJD forces the BJP government to work earnestly for the welfare of the State and its citizens. Only time will tell….
