Bhubaneswar: BJP MLA Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo resigned Wednesday from the Privilege Committee of Odisha Assembly in a connection with the summons issued to the managing director of a TV channel, Jagi Mangat Panda over a ‘breach of privilege’ motion. Deo submitted the resignation letter to Assembly Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat.
The letter states, “I hereby tender my resignation from the Committee on Privileges for 2018-19 constituted by you on the issue of Privilege Motion raised by the Congress MLA from Jaipur Shri Tara Prasad Bahinipati on a news item telecast by OTV on 20th November 2018.”
However, Singh Deo said that Bahinipati had nowhere said that OTV MD should be summoned. “Nowhere had he (Bahinipati) mentioned that the Managing Director of the channel be summoned.”
The letter also states: “There has never been precedence of summoning owners of the media houses. At best the Editors/Reporters have been summoned. But in this case Smt Jagi Mangat Panda, MD, OTV was summoned. She is an established and reputed woman entrepreneur of Odisha who has been humiliated and harassed publicly.”
He alleged that Jagi Mangat was summoned because of political vendetta. “Under the above circumstances it will be unjust on my part to be a part of the Committee which should work independently and without bias.”
PNN
