Industry Odisha Bureau, April 15: BJD President and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi urging him to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the Delimitation Bill.
“Today we are at a crossroads. The proposed Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, seeks to change the composition of the House of the People, increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 members,” Patnaik said in his letter to Majhi.
Currently Odisha has 21 MPs, about 3.9 percent of the total. If the amendment is passed, Odisha’s representation will rise to 29, but its proportion will fall to 3.4 percent, he said.
Odisha, which has been a frontrunner in moderating population growth and nurturing human capital, faces a potential 15 percent loss in political representation nationally, the LoP pointed out.
“Our political voice and influence will be taken away to be redistributed in other states. Reports suggest that Odisha will be the fourth biggest loser in this whole exercise,” he said, terming it a huge blow to the aspirations of 4.5 crore Odias and a grave injustice to the state’s future generations.
Patnaik made it clear that his party BJD will welcome the Delimitation Bill only if Odisha’s political rights remain intact. “This is not just an issue of numbers. The Bill hits directly at the spirit of cooperative federalism enshrined in the Constitution. Any reduction in political rights will undermine the aspirations of Odisha and its people,” he noted.
LoP appealed to the Chief Minister to take up this issue strongly. “You have the moral and legitimate power to do so. Future generations will not forgive us if we sit quietly while Odisha gets reduced to a politically insignificant State,” Patnaik told the CM.
Seeing the urgency of the matter, he requested to convene a special session of the Assembly within the next 48 hours to pass a resolution that not even 0.001 percent of political rights of Odisha be allowed to be taken away by other States.
BJD will stand with the government on this as it affects the fate and future of the beloved State and motherland Odisha, he added.
The BJD Supremo also informed Majhi that his party welcomed the Women’s Reservation Bill as Biju Babu was a strong votary of women’s empowerment, pioneering reservation in legislative bodies and entrusting power to women.
“The Biju Janata Dal has always championed women’s representation, ensuring their presence in Parliament and state assemblies. Odisha implemented 50 percent reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions, and we actively support national legislation for women’s empowerment,” he pointed out.
