Not Bothered About Losing Oppn Leader Status: Narasingha Mishra

Bhubaneswar: With the Congress most likely to lose the main opposition status in the Odisha assembly following the resignation of Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das from the party, senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra on Thursday said he is not bothered about losing the post of leader of the opposition.

“If the Congress loses the status of the main opposition party in the Assembly, the state government will take away the vehicle allotted to me and the two staff engaged at my official residence. So what? I used to criticise the government when I was not the leader of the Opposition and continued to do so as the leader of the opposition. Can the government stop me from raising important issues?” asked Narasingha while replying to a question by the mediapersons here.

He said if a party enjoys people’s support, a leader’s exit will have no impact on it. “A party feels the pinch only when a leader from whom the party draws its strength quits,” he pointed out.

According to the constitutional provision, a political party with 10 per cent members in the state assembly can be considered as the main opposition.

In Odisha Assembly, the Congress was reduced to 14 after Koraput MLA Krushna Chandra Sagaria resigned last year. With Jharsuguda MLA Naba Das announcing that he would soon resign as Congress MLA, the Congress is left with only 13 MLAs. In the 147-member state assembly, it will then become difficult for the Congress to retain the status of the main opposition party.