BJD lawmaker Baijayant Panda suspended from party

January 24, 2018 21:07

Member of Parliament Baijayant Panda has been suspended by the Biju Janata Dal after recurrent run-ins with party boss and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

BJD chief Naveen Patnaik suspends MP Baijayant Panda from the party on disciplinary grounds," party vice-president SN Patro said this evening.

Panda had been removed as the BJD's parliamentary party spokesperson last year after he had written an article shortly after the rural body polls, criticising the BJD leadership, saying it was being run by "opportunists", and asking for the party to introspect.

A "shocked" Panda said he was "gravely disappointed that party president Naveen Patnaik did not see through the conspiracy against me by a coterie led by an IAS officer now controlling the party."

He also said all allegations against him are false and baseless. "I vehemently deny the allegations against me," he said.

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