Congress party member suspended for one week.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
Naba Kishore Das, a senior Congress legislator in Odisha was suspended from the assembly for one week for allegedly watching obscene videos on his smartphone inside the house, on Monday.
Das was suspended on Tuesday after Government Chief Whip Ananta Das brought a motion, which was passed by voice vote. Speaker Niranjan Pujari, who referred the matter to the Ethics Committee of the House for Inquiry, ordered suspension of the MLA for one week.
Meanwhile, opposition legislators, including BJP and Congress, staged a walkout demanding that the Speaker should reconsider his decision.
Das denied the allegations and termed the speaker’s decision as ‘undemocratic’ as he didn’t allow a chance to clarify his position.
“I can emphatically say that my mobile phone does not contain any obscene material,” Das stated.
BJD legislator Pramila Mallick who demanded Das’s dismissal from the House said that “Instead of raising the issues of his area, Das was watching porn in the House. It has lowered the image of the House.”
BJD is the ruling party in the state.
According to The Hindu, footage pertaining to Das watching the obscene video was telecasted by an Odia television news channel.