Odisha: BJD seeks removal of Baijayant from Parl panel

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Mar 6, 2018 at 10:04 PM Updated On : Mar 6, 2018 at 10:57 PM

New Delhi: The Biju Janata Dal Parliamentary Party (BJDPP) today formally informed Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan that party MP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda has been suspended from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and sought to relieve him from the Membership of Standing Committee on Home Affairs

“I write to inform you that Shri Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, Member of my Party in the 16th Lok Sabha has been suspended from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal by the Party President on 24 January, 2018. I am, therefore, requesting you to take all consequential actions in this regard,” said Bhartruhari Mahtab, Leader BJD in 16^th Lok Sabha in a letter addressed to Mahajan today.

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The BJDPP leader in the Lok Sabha also requested the Speaker to relieve Panda from the Membership of Standing Committee on Home Affairs and replace the latter with another member from his party in the Committee.

“……. Shri Panda is a Member of Standing Committee on Home Affairs on the strength of BJD Party. Since, he has now been suspended from the Membership of BJD, we wish to have another Member of our Party on the Committee on Home Affairs. Hence, it is also requested that Shri Panda may be relieved from the Membership of Standing Committee on Home Affairs,” Mahtab explained in the letter.

Mahtab also requested the Speaker to allocate Panda a separate seat away from the seats earmarked for members of BJD in the Lok Sabha Chamber.

Notably, BJD president Naveen Patnaik today changed his earlier decision of two days back asking party MPs to resign from various Standing, Consultative and other Committees of the Parliament.

In a complete ‘U’ turn Patnaik today asked party MPs not to resign from the various Committees of the Parliament and to maintain status quo.

“Naveen Babu had asked all our MPs to resign from the various committees of the Parliament. But today he reconsidered his decision and asked MPs to continue as members of these committees,” Mahtab had told reporters today.