Privilege motion against Ajay Maken in Orissa Assembly

The ruling BJD party moved a privilege motion against union minister Ajay Maken for allegedly sending instructions to party MLAs in Orissa to continue to stall assembly proceedings. BJD member Kalpataru Das attached a copy of a letter, believed to be sent by Maken, while moving the privilege motion. The stalemate in the state assembly is continuing for almost a week now.

The letter says, "we may not let any other work in the assembly take place unless our motion on such an important issue (water) is admitted and voted." It also congratulated the Congress legislature party and the Pradesh Congress on taking a tough stand in favor of farmers. While leader of opposition J B Patnaik termed the letter as party's internal affairs, CM Naveen Patnaik condemned it.