What happens when Union ministers, CM share the floor? A problem of protocol, precedence in Odisha Assembly

As per the initial programme for the two-day training session, issued on August 10, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was to inaugurate it, BJP president and Union Health Minister J P Nadda was to give the valedictory address, and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram was to give an address. Both Pradhan and Oram belong to Odisha.

The revised schedule released by the Assembly Secretariat Thursday said that while Rijiju will inaugurate the programme, Harivansh will join the valedictory session, while Oram will be one of the speakers. The official reason for the change was that Nadda and Pradhan were unable to attend due to personal reasons.

In its communication to the Speaker saying it would not attend the programme, the BJD said: “Inviting Central ministers to inaugurate the programme and address MLAs within the Assembly premises goes against the established conventions of the dignity of the Assembly.”

As per BJD chief whip Pramila Mallik, the conventions require that functions held on Assembly premises “involve only those directly connected with it from the Odisha Assembly / Odisha”.

Mallik also said that it would lower the dignity of the CM if he was just an ordinary speaker at a function held on the Assembly premises. The CM is supposed to be ahead of Central Ministers in the protocol followed by the government at all functions held within the state, she said. “Relegating the state chief minister to a second-category functionary at a function on the Assembly premises undermines the state and the pre-eminence of the state, as recognised in our federal set-up.”

The Congress has toed the BJD line on this, with its chief whip C S Razen Ekka saying that the party will boycott the orientation programme as the CM’s dignity is being “undermined” by inviting Union ministers.

Official sources in the Assembly Secretariat, however, disputed the Opposition parties’ claims regarding both the order of precedence involving a CM and Union ministers, and who could be invited for an event involving the House.

A senior Assembly official said that as per the Table of Precedence set by the President of India, a Union Cabinet minister was ahead of a chief minister.

As for who could be invited, the official said that “expertise on the subject matter” was the only criterion. “There is no defined rule that people who are not members of the Assembly cannot be invited as guests for programmes on Assembly premises. The orientation programme is not a part of the Assembly session… It’s a separate programme planned especially for the new MLAs in the conference hall of the Assembly, not even in the Assembly hall. So, there is no problem inviting Central ministers as guests,” the official said.

The official added that Parliament officials with expertise in House proceedings had attended some of the orientation programmes organised during the BJD regime in the state. “If officials can train MLAs on various subjects, why can’t Union ministers be invited as speakers?”

Given that the BJD was in power in the state for such a long time, there is, however, no recent precedent of its government inviting Union ministers for such orientation programmes. Assembly officials said they were checking though for a precedent in the past.

Odisha Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling said they were doing everything as per rules. “There is no politics… we have invited senior leaders like Ranendra Pratap Swain and former members like Prafulla Ghadei and Narasingha Mishra as speakers.”

The orientation programme this time may be particularly significant as 84 of the 147 MLAs of the Odisha Assembly are first-timers. The programme is meant to acquaint them with Rules and Procedures relating to the Business of the House, the functioning of committees, the budgetary processes, privileges and conduct of members and use of the National E-Vidhan Application (NeVA) application.

In the 147-member Assembly, the BJP has 78 MLAs, the BJD 51, the Congress 14 and the CPI(M) one. There are three Independent MLAs.