The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has sought the removal of suspended party MP Baijayant Panda from Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs.
In a letter to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday, BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab said: “Since, he has now been suspended from the membership of the BJD, we wish to have another member of our party on the committee.”
BJD suspended Panda from the primary membership of the party on January 24 citing conflict of interest and anti-party activities. Mahtab also requested the Speaker to allocate Panda “a separate seat, away from the seats earmarked for members of the BJD in the Lok Sabha Chamber.”Panda has declined to comment on the letter.
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked party MPs not to resign from their membership in different parliamentary committees. Patnaik, on Saturday, was rumored to have asked his MPs to resign, but later changed his mind.
Dismissing speculation that the CM changed his mind due to possible revolt by party MPs, a BJD Lok Sabha MP said: “On March 3, we discussed who will take up Panda’s spots on the Home Affairs committee. All MPs offered to resign so that supremo (Naveen Patnaik) could reallocate committee memberships among us. Later, he asked us to hold on to our memberships, as (he believes) general elections are less than a year away.”
Suspended BJD MP Baijayant Panda
