BJD Yet To Inform Assembly Speaker About Expulsion Of Prashant Jagadev; MLA’s Seat Remains In Treasury Bench

Prashant Jagadev

Bhubaneswar: Even a week after expelling Chilika legislator Prashant Jagadev from the party, the BJD is yet to officially inform the Assembly Speaker about it.

This was revealed by Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro in a reply to a question in the Assembly on Friday. Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingh Mishra asked the Speaker whether he was informed by the BJD about the expulsion of Jagadev.

After repeated queries by Mishra, the Speaker said he had not received any such letter, according to a TNIE report. The Speaker, however, said he had received a communication from Khurda SP about arrest of the MLA on March 23.

Since the BJD has not informed the Speaker regarding suspension of Jagadev three months back and subsequent expulsion from the party, his status in the House remains unchanged. His seat in the Assembly continues to be allocated in the treasury bench though it should have been changed.

The BJD had suspended Jagadev from the party three months back for assaulting a BJP worker in front of the NAC office at Balugaon in September last year. Last week, the ruling party announced that the MLA was automatically expelled from the party as his suspension was not lifted for three months. The announcement came after Jagadev ran his car into a crowd in front of the block office on March 12, injuring more than 20 persons.

Jagadev is presently lodged in Banpur sub-jail of Khurda district following his arrest in Bhubaneswar on March 22.