On Saturday, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) demanded the resignation of Lok Sabha Member of the Parliament (MP) Baijayant Panda. The BJD party alleged that Panda did not disclose that he was drawing salary as the Vice Chairman of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA.)
The BJD Spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, “As the Vice Chairman of IMFA, he has been drawing a salary but it did not reflect in his election affidavit. It is a question of moral integrity and the BJD workers from Kendrapara demanded that he should resign from the post of an MP.”
It is said on the 24th of January the BJD President and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik suspended Panda from the primary membership of the party for anti party activities with immediate effect. Patnaik, in a statement said Panda’s conduct during the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) elections was totally against the interests of the BJD and its functionaries who are responsible for sending him to the Parliament four times.
During the PRI elections, Panda did not campaign for the Party candidates in his own constituency. However, Panda denied the allegations and called them entirely false and baseless. In May 2017, Panda criticised the Party and sparred on Twitter with Tathagat Satpathy, a BJD member. Following the issue, Panda was removed from the post of BJD Spokesperson.
