Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 15:

A day after Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das was caught allegedly watching pornographic videos in the Assembly, Speaker of the Odisha Assembly today suspended the legislator for seven days.

NABADASH

Speaker Niranjan Pujari suspended the Jharsuguda MLA for a week for watching obscene videos in the House while the Assembly was in session yesterday. Government chief whip Ananta Das had brought a motion in this matter.

The Speaker referred the matter to the Ethics Committee of the Assembly to inquire into the allegations.

Notably, the Committee is headed by BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain.

Soon after this, the Congress MLAs held a meeting in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly Narasingha Mishra.

I condemn the suspension of the Congress member without proper inquiry into the matter. We demand probe into the incident. If he is found guilty after probe, then action should be initiated, Narasingha Mishra said in the floor of the House after the meeting.

“The way the Speaker has suspended me for seven days is undemocratic. As I had told yesterday that I was opening e-mail and the videos in YouTube opened accidentally. I would urge him to reconsider the decision and order a probe,” suspended Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das told reporters outside the Assembly.

Demanding reconsideration of suspension decision, the Opposition BJP and Congress members staged a walkout from the Assembly.

After the local news channels aired the video of the Congress MLA watching pornographic videos on his smart phone, ruling Biju Janata Dal’s women’s wing president Pramila Mallick had demanded action against the legislator.

Besides, BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy had also demanded action against Das over the incident.

It may be recalled that Jharsuguda legislator Naba Kishore Das was captured in the camera by a television cameraperson of a private news channel while the Congress member was scrolling down the screen of a smartphone. The MLA was reportedly watching pornography while the winter session of the Assembly was in progress, which was vehemently denied by Das.