Naveen Patnaik made his intentions clear with the shadow cabinet

Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, now the state’s opposition leader, has formed a shadow cabinet to keep an eye on and tackle the ruling BJP and its chief minister Mohan Majhi. The move comes ahead of the state assembly’s budget session, which is scheduled to begin next Monday.

The 50-member British-style shadow cabinet reflects the early experiences of Mr Patnaik, who spent a large part of his life in Britain before entering politics.

Members of the shadow cabinet are mostly former ministers of his government, who are expected to keep an eye on each minister and his department and prepare alternative plans and policies in areas where the government may have failed.

He said, “The opposition party is the guardian of the public’s interests. The opposition party has an important role in the state assembly.”

“The MLAs will keep a close watch on the activities of the departments assigned to them and actively participate during discussions on those departments in the State Assembly. They will work to protect the interests of the people,” Mr Patnaik was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the BJD on Wednesday.

This move of the former Chief Minister not only underlines his active role in the opposition but also refutes the belief of many that the Biju Janata Dal will now become politically irrelevant.

In the recently concluded elections, the BJD was out of power after 24 years. The BJP ousted the Naveen Patnaik government by winning 78 out of 147 assembly seats. The BJD got 51 seats.

A few days later, when Mr Patnaik was elected Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, the BJD indicated it was serious.

The party, which is BJP’s ally in the Rajya Sabha, said its MPs will not only confine themselves to speaking on issues but will also launch a movement if the BJP-led government at the Centre “ignores the interests of Odisha”.

The party has already stood with the opposition on the NEET issue and even staged a walkout in Parliament.