Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik launched a scathing attack on the Odisha government during the Special Session convened to discuss the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill.
He expressed anguish over a shocking incident where a woman’s skeleton was carried to a bank by her family to prove her death and claim dues. Patnaik said the episode exposed “complete apathy and zero accountability” of the administration and highlighted the insensitivity of governance in the state. He noted that international media, including the New York Post and BBC, reported the incident, and the United States issued an advisory cautioning citizens against visiting Odisha.
Patnaik accused the BJP government of failing women and reducing governance to “narratives and optics.” He reminded the House that Odisha, under Biju Patnaik pioneered 33% reservation for women in local bodies, later raised to 50% in 2011. He added that the BJD gave 33% tickets to women in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, contrasting it with BJP’s record.
Turning to the Constitutional Amendment Bill, Patnaik reiterated support for the immediate implementation of the women’s reservation bill passed in Parliament in 2023. He criticised linking it with the delimitation bill, calling it a “clandestine act” that would reduce Odisha’s political rights. He urged all MPs from the state to oppose delimitation, warning that “history will not forgive us if we support this.”
Patnaik assured Odias that as long as he remained in politics, no one would deprive the state of its rightful share.
