Odisha BJP MLAs Ask CM To Rethink 3-Fold Salary Hike After Public Backlash
Facing protests and angry reactions on social media, BJP legislators in Odisha have written to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, asking him to **reconsider the 211% hike** in salaries and allowances for MLAs and ministers that the Assembly cleared earlier this month. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling said after a BJP Legislature Party meeting in Bhubaneswar that the move was taken “respecting public opinion” and that all BJP MLAs had signed a representation seeking a fresh look at the decision.
What The Approved Hike Looks Like
On 9 December, the Assembly passed four Bills unanimously to revise pay and perks for the Chief Minister, deputy chief ministers, Speaker, ministers and MLAs, raising an ordinary MLA’s monthly package from **₹1.11 lakh to about ₹3.45 lakh**. With this, Odisha’s legislators would become among the **highest‑paid MLAs in the country**, with fixed salary rising to around ₹90,000 and allowances going up sharply for house rent, constituency work and office expenses.
Officials estimate the hike would add roughly **₹45–50 crore a year** to the state exchequer, at a time when opposition parties and unions say frontline workers like ASHA and Anganwadi staff, school cooks and contractual employees have long‑pending demands for better wages.
Why BJP MLAs Want A Review Now
According to party insiders, Thursday’s BJP Legislature Party meeting discussed the political fallout of the hike and the risk that MLAs could face public anger in their constituencies if the increase is implemented without changes. Mahaling told reporters that the letter to the CM specifically mentions “respecting people’s sentiments” and urges him to **review or modify** the Bills even though they were passed with support from all parties.
The Bills are currently awaiting the Governor’s assent, and petitions from CPI(M) and several civil‑society groups have asked the Raj Bhavan to withhold approval in view of the “adverse public opinion”.
Opposition, Naveen Patnaik Turn Up The Heat
The controversy intensified after former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik wrote to Majhi saying he would **forgo the enhanced salary and allowances** and requested that the money instead be used for welfare of the poor, a move the BJP and Congress dubbed “political grandstanding”. CPI(M) legislator Laxman Munda has also publicly opposed the hike, arguing that elected representatives should not give themselves a windfall when large sections of the workforce remain under‑paid.
Congress leaders have separately urged the Governor not to sign the Bills, portraying the pay hike as proof that the BJP government is out of touch with ground realities of unemployment, farmer distress and inflation in Odisha.
With ruling‑party MLAs now distancing themselves from a decision they had originally backed in the House, all eyes are on Chief Minister Majhi and the Governor; a rollback or partial freeze of the hike could blunt public anger, while going ahead unchanged may give the opposition a potent issue ahead of upcoming local‑body polls.
