Former Law Minister and four-time legislator Narasingha Mishra was on Wednesday unanimously elected as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the Assembly.
The Congress being the main opposition party with 16 legislators in the 147-member House, Mr. Mishra is set to be announced as the Leader of Opposition by Speaker Niranjan Pujari on the first day of the first session on Thursday.
At a meeting held for the election of CLP leader on the Assembly premises here, Mr. Mishra’s name was proposed for the CLP leader’s post by the Jagatsinghpur legislator Chiranjib Biswal. The proposal was seconded by Bhujabal Majhi, legislator from Dabugaon, and Krishna Chandra Sagaria, legislator from Koraput.
The meeting was attended by All-India Congress Committee general secretary Ajay Maken as observer. AICC’s Odisha in-charge B. K. Hariprasad and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena were also present.
Mr. Mishra’s election as the CLP leader was announced by Mr. Maken at a press conference held at the Congress Bhavan in the afternoon.
Earlier, the newly-elected Congress legislators met and passed a one-line resolution authorising Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take a decision on the new CLP leader.
“However, the party president suggested us to unanimously decide a name after consulting the MLAs,” Mr. Maken told presspersons.
Mr. Maken and Mr. Hariprasad then held a discussion with the legislators individually before informing the party president about the choice of the legislators.
OPCC president Jayadev Jena would intimate the secretary of the Assembly about the decision of the CLP, Mr. Maken said.
Meanwhile, the BJP deferred election of the leader of its Legislature Party as party’s Central observer Prakash Javadekar could not arrive here due to the ongoing session of Parliament.
Party’s State unit president and legislator from Patnagarh K.V. Singh Deo will act as Leader of the BJP Legislature Party till the formal election.
While the Congress has 16 legislators, the BJP has 10 legislators in the Assembly and the ruling Biju Janata Dal, 117 legislators. Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Samata Kranti Dal have one legislator each and there are two Independents.
