Brief History of Odisha Legislative Assembly
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[ OFFICIAL USE ONLY ] BRIEF HISTORY OF ODISHA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ODISHA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY BHUBANESWAR 2020 [ OFFICIAL USE ONLY ] BRIEF HISTORY OF ODISHA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ODISHA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY BHUBANESWAR 2020 BRIEF HISTORY OF ODISHA er LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Odisha became a separate province on the 1st day of April 1936 by Government of India (Consitution of Odisha) Order, 1936. It comprised portions of the then Bihar and Odisha Province, Madras Presidency and the Central Provinces. The province of Odisha was placed under the personal rule of the Governor till the end of March 1937. An Advisory Council consisting of 20 persons was formed to advise the Governor on the administration of the province. FIRST PRE-INDEPENDENT ASSEMBLY, 1937 (UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1935) Under the Government of India Act, 1935, the strength of the Odisha Legislative Assembly was fixed at 60 including four nominated members, Election was held from the 18th to 23rd January 1937 under limited franchise. The party position in the Assembly was as follows : Congress . 36 United . 06 National . 04 No Party . 04 Independents . 06 Nominated . 04 Total : 60 2 Shri Biswanath Das was elected as the Leader of the Congress Party under the directive of the Congress High Command, Shri Das expressed his inability to accept the invitation to form the Ministry unless the Governor assures that "he would not use his special powers of interference or setaside the advice of Ministers in regard to constitutional activities". The Governor was not prepared to give such assurance in view of the consitutional provisions. As the leader of the majority party refused to form Ministry and the Government was bent upon inaugurating the new consitutional scheme for province on scheduled time, the Governor appointed Shri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo, the Maharaja of Paralakhemundi, the Prime Minister* of Odisha on the 1st April 1937. Besides, the Prime Minister, Manadhata Gorachand Patnaik and Maulavi Latifur Rahman were two other Ministers in the Council of Ministers. Normal political sitution came to prevail when the Congress High Command permitted the Congress Party in the province to form Ministry on the basis of formal assurance from the Governor General in regard to exercise of Governor's special powers. The interim Government resigned on the 13th July 1937 which was accepted on the 19th July 1937 and Shri Biswanath Das was appointed as the Prime Minister on the 19th July 1937. The first Congress Ministry consisted of three members, two other Ministers were Shri Nityananda Kanungo and Shri Bodharam Dube. *Under Government of India Act, 1935, the head of the Council of Ministers in the province was designated Prime Minister which was changed to Chief Minister under the Constitution of India. 1950 and the provinces were renamed as States. 3 The members of the First Assembly were administered oath on the 26th and the 27th July 1937. The first historic session of this Assembly was held in the Ravenshaw College Hall, Cuttack on the 28th July 1937. On the same day, Shri Mukunda Prasad Das and Shri Nanda Kishore Das were elected as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. Babu Bichitrananda Das, a Member of the Assembly conducted the election of Speaker. The Congress Ministry resigned on the 4th November 1939 in protest against involvement of India in the Second World War by the British Government without consultation with its popular representatives. The Governor accepted the resignation of the Ministry on the 6th November 1939 and assumed direct responsibility for the administration province from the same day (i.e. the 6th November 1939) but the Assembly was kept under suspended animation. A coalition Ministry was sworn in on the 24th November 1941 with Maharaja of Paralakhemundi as the Prime Minister and Pandit Godavarish Mishra and Maulavi Abdus Sobhan Khan as two other members of the Council of Ministers. Due to difference among the partners in the Coalition Government the Prime Minister resigned on the 20th June 1944. However, the resignation of the Prime Minister and other Ministers were accepted on the 29th June 1944 and from the 30th June 1944 , Odisha was placed under Governor's Rule. The Assembly had altogether 10 Sessions with 188 sitting days in all till it was dissolved on the 14th September 1945. There was no separate Assembly Secretariat and its asministration was put in charge of Law Department of the State Government. 4 SECOND PRE-INDEPENDENT ASSEMBLY LINK ASSEMBLY, 1946 The election for the Second Provincial Assembly was held under limited franchise from the 4th April to the 9th April 1946. The newly elected Members were administered oath on the 27th May 1946 and the Assembly met for its First Session on the same day in the Ravenshaw College Hall, Cuttack. The Congress Party won 47 seats including 36 seats uncontested. The party position in the Assembly was as follows : Congress . 47 Muslim League . 04 Communist . 01 Independents . 04 Nominated . 04 Total : 60 Nominated Members were appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister. Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab was elected leader of the Congress Party and formed the Ministry on the 23rd April 1946. Shri Nabakrushna Choudhury, Pandit Lingaraj Mishra, Shri Nityananda Kanungo and Radhakrushna Biswasray were the other members of the Council of Ministers. Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab resigned on the 12th May 1950 as he was to join the Cabinet at the Centre and Shri Nabakrushna Choudhury took over as the Chief Minister on the same day. 5 Mr. Lal Mohan Patnaik and Smt. A. Laxmibai were elected as Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively on the 29th May 1946. Shri Lakshminarayan Sahu, a member of the Assembly conducted the election of the Speaker. It is relevant to note that on the 1st January 1948, 25 Princely States merged in the province of Odisha. In pursuance of the provisions of the Administration of Odisha Order, an Assembly for Odisha States called "Odisha States Assembly" was consituted with 36 Members. These included 31 Members appointed by the Provincial Government from the merged States and five ex officio Members, namely, the Prime Minister of Odisha, three Members of the Executive Council and the Chief Administrator and Special Commissioner constituted under the said order to aid and advice the Governor in the administration of the Princely States. After final merger of the States with Odisha the seats in the Legislative Assembly was increased from 60 to 91 with effect from August 1949 under the States' Merger (Governors' Provinces) Order, 1949. On the 9th September 1949 the Governor General of India nominated 31 persons to fill the additional seats in the Odisha Provincial Legislative Assembly to represent the people of the States or group of States. Thus, during the period from the 1st January 1948 to October 1949 two Assemblies were functioning, viz., the Odisha Provincial Assembly and the Odisha State Assembly. On the 30th September 1946, a motion was adopted in the Assembly to shift the Capital of Odisha from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar. In the year 1948, a separate department was formed for the administration of Assembly affairs under the administrative control of 6 the Home Department of Government of Odisha. After merger of Princely States and inclusion of 31 representatives from the States, the historic session was held in the New Capital at Bhubaneswar for the three days on the 10th, 11th and 12th October 1949 after which it shifted back to Cuttack. The Assembly had altogether 14 Sessions with 224 sitting days and it was dissolved on the 20th February 1952. 7 FIRST ASSEMBLY, 1952 (UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA) Under the Constitution of India, the strength of the Odisha Legislative Assembly was 140. The first General Election on the basis of the universal adult franchise was held from the 20th December 1951 to the 24th January 1952 for 36 days. The strength of the political parties in the First Assembly in 1952 was as follows : Indian National Congress . 67 Ganatantra Parishad . 31 Socialist . 10 Communist . 07 F. B. (M) . 01 Independents . 24 Total : 140 The Members of the First Assembly took oath on the 4th March 1952 Raja Shri Sailendra Narayana Bhanja Deo, Member of the Assembly administered oath to the Members. The First Session of the Assembly was held on the same day in New Capital, Bhubaneswar in the building which is now known as Sardar Patel Hall. Shri Nabakrushna Choudhury as the Leader of the majority party became the Chief Minister on the 20th February 1952. Shri Nabakrushna Choudhury resigned on the 19th October 1956 and Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab was appointed as the Chief Minister on the same day. Shri Shradhakar Supakar of Ganatantra Parishad was the Leader of the Opposition of the First 8 Assembly. The First Assembly had all total 9 Sessions with 356 sitting days and it was dissolved on the 4th March 1957. Shri Nanda Kishore Das and Maulavi Mahammed Hanif were elected Speaker on the 6th March 1952 and the Deputy Speaker on the 8th March 1952, respectively. 9 SECOND ASSEMBLY, 1957 The General Election for the Second Assembly was held from the 24th February 1957 to the 12th March 1957. The elected Members took oath on the 10th and 11th April 1957. Shri Nanda Kishore Das, Speaker of the Assembly administered oath to the Members. The first Session was summoned to meet on the 27th May 1957. There was a demand to separate the administrative control of Assembly from Home Department. On the 11th December 1957 as a result of a point of privilege raised in the Assembly, a Committee was formed by the House to give a final report. In 1958, Assembly Department was declared a separate Secretariat (Vide Home Department Order No.