Other States - Orissa

Opposition parties stall House proceedings

BHUBANESWAR: The opposition parties stalled the Assembly proceedings on Saturday demanding resignation of Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal for his alleged involvement in a sex scandal in New Delhi.

The House stated witnessing noisy scenes soon after the question hour ended at 11-30 am. Legislators of Congress and other opposition parties rushed to the well and raised slogans demanding resignation of Mr. Samal when senior Congress MLA Narasingha Mishra started speaking on the controversy.

Mr. Mishra said Mr. Samal should quit as two leaders of the ruling Biju Janata Dal had stepped down from their posts under similar circumstances.

Stating that a statement by the Minister would not reveal the truth, Mr. Mishra demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should make a statement and inform the House whether any inquiry was being conducted on the basis of the media reports about Mr. Samal’s alleged involvement in the scandal.

Both Speaker Kishore Mohanty and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Raghunath Mohanty requested the Opposition legislators to go back to their seats and allow the proceedings to continue as Mr. Samal was to make a statement clarifying his position.

The proceedings had to be adjourned till afternoon as the opposition members continued their slogan shouting.

When the proceedings resumed in the post-lunch session, Mr. Samal made a statement where he denied his involvement in any scandal. The media reports about the incident that reportedly took place in New Delhi was aimed at denigrating his image as well as the image of his party, the Bharatiya Janata party and the ruling BJD-BJP coalition, he said.

Mr. Samal, however, informed the House that he facilitated the stay of the woman in question in New Delhi and helped her in contacting some guests, but as an elected representative.

The Minister further countered the charge levelled against him by the Opposition saying that the charges were baseless as no one had lodged a complaint with regard to the matter.

But the opposition did not change its stand on the issue after Mr. Samal’s statement. The proceedings were adjourned for the day as the opposition members again entered the well and sat on the floor of the House.

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