Odisha BJP State President Manmohan Samal, who lost the 2024 Assembly polls, has courted controversy over the discrepancies in election and bar council affidavits, with Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday raising questions on the integrity and ethics of the senior BJP leader.
Meanwhile, the Odisha State Bar Council has issued a show-cause notice to Samal over his legal practice during a period when he was a minister in the BJD-BJP coalition government.
The regional party on Tuesday raised serious questions regarding the contradictory and false information submitted by Samal in two separate affidavits submitted to the State Bar Council and the Election Commission.
As someone holding the high position of a State President of a national party, such discrepancies cast doubt on his ethics and credibility, said BJD spokesperson and media coordinator Lenin Mohanty.
There are glaring discrepancies in the affidavits submitted by Samal, Mohanty said, mentioning that “in an affidavit submitted to the State Bar Council in 2015, Samal stated that he has been practising as a lawyer at Chandabali Court since 1986. However, in that same affidavit, he failed to disclose that he had served as Minister of Food Supplies and Revenue in the State Cabinet from 2004 to 2009.”
On the other hand, in affidavits submitted to the Election Commission during the 2019 and 2024 general elections, Samal made no mention of his legal practice. Instead, he listed social service as his profession, BJD spokesperson Mohanty charged.
Both affidavits submitted by Samal contain concealed and contradictory information. What has been stated in one affidavit clearly contradicts the facts mentioned in the other. Such conduct by a senior political leader raises serious questions about his integrity and ethical standards, Mohanty pointed out.
Mohanty further demanded that Samal respond to the show-cause notice and issue a public clarification. Strict action should be taken against Samal for serious violation of this nature, the BJD concluded.