The monsoon session of Odisha Assembly started on Thursday, September 18. The first day was adjourned for the day after obituary reference was made to seven former members of the House and two personnel of the state police.
The condolence motion was moved by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on the first day of the fourth session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
As soon as the House assembled at 11 am, Speaker Surama Padhy allowed Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to move the condolence motion to pay homage to former minister and sitting Nuapada MLA late Rajendra Dholakia, former Deputy Speaker and Minister late Bibhuti Bhushan Singh Mardaraj, former members of the House late Prasanna Pattnaik, Karendra Majhi, Niranjan Hembram, Prafulla Kumar Bhanja, and Mohammad Rafique.
The House also condoled the death of late constables Loknath Sabar and Laxman Majhi.
CM Majhi paid rich tribute to the late members of the Assembly and police personnel.
“He was a sweet-spoken, sociable, altruistic and popular person. He always worked for the development of farmers, labourers, Dalit and downtrodden people in the society. The veteran leader passed away at the age of 69 on September 8, 2025,” CM Majhi said while paying homage to Dholakia.
The Chief Minister described Mardaraj as a popular and respected leader in state politics while paying tributes to him.
Also, Majhi highly praised the sacrifice made by the two constables who laid down their lives on duty.
The Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House, Prasanna Acharya, and Leader of the Congress Legislative Party Rama Chandra Kadam and CPI(M)’s lone member Laxman Munda also conveyed their condolence to the departed leaders and police personnel.
They expressed grief and extended condolences to the bereaved families in the House.
Speaker Surama Padhy also participated in the discussions on the condolence motion, recalling the good deeds and service rendered by the departed members during their lifetimes. She conveyed the House’s condolences to the families of the ex-members and late constables. She also referred to the contribution of each former member in her condolence message.
“As Rajendra Dholkia, was the sitting member of the 17th Assembly, the House will remain adjourned for the day as per tradition,” the Speaker said.
The MLAs also stood for two two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed members.
The Speaker then invited all the members of the Assembly to join the plantation programme held in the Assembly premises.
With this, the proceedings for the first day of the Odisha Assembly’s Monsoon Session concluded.
It is pertinent here to mention that the fourth session of the Odisha Assembly which commenced on Thursday will conclude on September 25, after seven working days with one break on September 21.
