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Demand for resignation of Speaker spills to streets

BHUBANESWAR: Demand for resignation of Speaker Maheswar Mohanty by Opposition inside the State Assembly on Thursday spilled to streets with various organisations staging demonstration seeking his arrest.

Activists of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) burnt an effigy of Mr. Mohanty, who was facing sexual harassment allegations, in front of Governor’s House. They also raised slogans against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Speaker for “jeopardising the dignity of a woman employee” at the workplace.

Addressing the rally most of the leaders observed that Mr. Mohanty had earned bad repute for the Assembly following the outburst of suspended lady marshal and complainant Gayatri Panda.

They demanded that Speaker immediately step down from his constitutional post and police on their part arrest him subsequently.

Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) also staged demonstration in Cuttack by burning an effigy of Mr. Mohanty.

Leaders castigated Speaker, saying against him his own employee had levelled a serious charge.

Communist Party of India (CPI) had on Wednesday already held demonstrations seeking heads of those who were involved in "harassing" the woman employee of the Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Mahila Police Station faced a peculiar situation on whether it should file an FIR basing on a complaint filed by social activists on behalf Ms. Panda or would wait for her to register a formal case.

“We have received a complaint signed by Ms Panda but it was handed over to us by a group of activists. But we don’t know if the complaint was authentic.

We have sent police personnel thrice to Ms. Panda’s house but she was absent,” Assistant Commissioner of Police B. N. Guru said. Doubts arose after social activists avoided giving undertaking on behalf of the complainant, he said.

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