Orissa assembly adjourned over MLA's 'sex escapades'

Speaker Kishor Mohanty adjourned the Orissa assembly on Monday till the afternoon after the opposition stalled proceedings over alleged sex escapades of a state minister.

Speaker Kishor Mohanty adjourned the Orissa assembly on Monday till the afternoon after the opposition stalled proceedings over alleged sex escapades of a state minister.

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The opposition shouted slogans demanding the resignation of the State Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal and a statement from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the matter.

A section of the local media had reported last week that Samal was involved in an affair with a woman from his constituency and had spent a night with her recently in Delhi.

Although Samal termed the allegation as baseless, he, however, in a statement admitted that he had met a woman from his constituency during his stay at the Orissa Bhavan in Delhi in November.

The minister also said that he had helped arrange the stay of the woman in the Bhavan because he considered it his duty as a public representative.

But members of the Congress, the main opposition party in the state alleged that the minister was involved in an extra marital affair with the woman.

It is not the first time that such a scandal has troubled the Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government in the state.

On March 31 this year, Maheswar Mohanty from the BJD had resigned as the Orissa assembly speaker after a woman employee of the state's legislative assembly accused him of sexual harassment.