BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday changed his decision and asked party MPs to continue as members of Parliamentary Standing Committees. The Chief Minister had asked the MPs in the Parliamentary party meeting held at Naveen Nivas on March 5 to resign from the Parliamentary Standing Committees. Talking to mediapersons, Leader of the BJD Parliamentary party, Bhartruhari Mahatab said the Chief Minister reviews the role and performance of each MP who are members of different standing committees of Parliament every year.
“At the meeting held on March 3, Naveen had asked us to resign as member of these committees. But, he told me on Tuesday that since the general elections will be held in less than a year, performance appraisal of the MPs would not be proper. So he asked all the party MPs to continue as members of standing committees,” he said. Meanwhile, Mahatab in a letter to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has requested her to relieve suspended MP Baijayant Panda as a member of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs and take in a BJD MP as its member.
“Panda is a member of Standing Committee on Home Affairs on the strength of the BJD party. Since, he has now been suspended from the membership of the BJD, we wish to have another member of our party on the committee. Hence, it is also requested that Panda may be relieved from the membership,” Mahatab said in the letter. Mahatab has also requested the Speaker to allocate Panda a seat away from the seats earmarked for members of BJD in the Lok Sabha. He informed the Speaker that Panda has been suspended from the primary membership of the BJD by the party president on January 24.