Odisha Assembly Wednesday was adjourned several times as the opposition Congress members created a ruckus demanding a clarification from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on ruling BJD's support to BJP nominee Ashwini Vaishnav for the Rajya Sabha elections.
The issue was raised by Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra who accused Vaishnav, a former IAS officer, of being hand in glove with the mining mafia as well as a beneficiary of discretionary quota (DQ) scam in Odisha.
Vaishnav, who was in the assembly premises to enquire about his candidature for the Rajya Sabha polls, said, "I have nothing to hide. I will tell many things. But let the election process be over."
Asked about the vigilance probe against him in the DQ scam as alleged by the Congress, Vaishnav said, "Let there be a probe into all the allegations. I am insisting on investigation because the allegations are false."
He said, "Shah Commission report will speak for itself. CBI investigation was proposed. Why the NDA government did not order a CBI investigation into mining scam in last 5 years?"
Senior BJD MLA Debi Prasad Mishra said, "If there is any allegation against Vaishnav, the returning officer or the Election Commission will verify it. They will check whether or not Vaishnav's candidature is valid."
Leader of Opposition and senior BJP leader Pradipta Naik said, "It is the Congress's design to defame a person. Congress leaders are speaking against Vaishnav only to get themselves in the news."
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