Bedlam In Odisha Assembly Over Ashwini Vaishnav RS Nomination

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes on Wednesday as the Congress members sought a clarification from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik regarding BJD’s decision to support BJP candidate Ashwini Vaishnav for Rajya Sabha bypolls.

Raising the issue during the zero hour, leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingha Mishra said that the Tara Datt Committee, in its report, has clearly mentioned about the complicity of Vaishnav in the discretionary quota (DQ) scam. Apart from this, he has a close nexus with the mining mafia, he alleged.

“Since Vaishnav is involved in these scams, under what circumstances the BJD decided to support his candidature?” Mishra asked and urged the Speaker to direct the Chief Minister to give a clarification in this regard in the House.

Pandemonium prevailed during the adjournment motion brought by the BJP when the Congress members led by Tara Prasad Bahinipati rushed to the well of the House and shouted slogans over the alleged BJD-BJP nexus.

The Speaker then adjourned House for 15 minutes and called the all-party meeting to discuss the matter.

Replying to the allegations brought by the Congress, Vaishnav said he will reply to all the charges brought against him after the Rajya Sabha bypoll process is completed.

“Had I been involved in the deal, I would not have asked for a probe. Let there be an investigation into all the allegations the Congress has brought against me,” he added.