Congress brings privilege notice against Odisha CM on Mahanadi issue

Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra on Thursday brought a privilege notice against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, accusing him of misleading the assembly with “false and fabricated statements” on Mahanadi water dispute.

In a letter to the secretary of Odisha Assembly, Mishra said that the false and fabricated statement was made in connection with a calling attention notice on August 5, 2010.

The then minister of Parliamentary Affairs had given the reply on behalf of the Chief Minister.

“Recently, one of the spokesperson of the ruling party (BJD) has stated before the media that the chief minister’s statement in the assembly was false. Further, he (had) stated that government always submits false information before the House,” Mishra said.

The leader of the opposition requested deputy speaker Sanand Marndi to take appropriate action and send it to the privilege committee to examine, investigate and report the matter.

The deputy speaker said he will convey the matter to Speaker Niranjan Pujari who will take the final decision in this regard.