In a dramatic escalation of political tensions within the Odisha Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued privilege motion notices against five Congress legislators, accusing them of breaching House privileges by leaking details of a no-confidence motion to the media before its formal submission.
Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy announced the development on Friday, stating that she would conduct a thorough inquiry into the allegations and apprise the House of her findings.
The notices were moved by senior BJP MLA Padmalochan Panda, targeting Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ramchandra Kadam, Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Sofia Firdous, Ashok Kumar Das, and Dr C.S. Rajan Ekka.
The controversy erupted amid ongoing protests by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the House during the afternoon session. According to the Speaker, the MLAs stand accused of publicly disclosing sensitive information about the no-confidence proposal against them via media channels prior to presenting the notice in the Assembly—a move that Panda and his colleagues claim constitutes a grave violation of parliamentary decorum and could amount to a contempt of the House.
