Congress demands Bhubaneswar Mayor's resignation over scandal

Opposition Congress today demanded the resignation of Bhubaneswar Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena after a sex clip purportedly featuring him and two others went viral on social media, a charge denied by the senior BJD leader.
The matter was raised in the Assembly through a point of order by Congress chief whip Taraprasad Bahinipati.
"The Mayor should resign immediately after the sex video became public. Why the Chief Minister is silent?" asked Bahinipati.
Ridiculing the ruling BJD's "respect to women" slogan, he demanded a CBI probe into allegation that the Mayor "was among those shown in the video".
"The man in the video is certainly not me. I am not at all the person in the video. You can clearly differentiate me and the man in the video. Please minutely observe the belly, nose and walking style of the man in the video and compare with me," an unperturbed Jena told reporters here.

Asked about the issue being raised in the Assembly, Jena, also the General Secretary of the ruling BJD, said he would not like to comment on the matter.

Earlier, the student's wing of the Congress, in a press conference, demanded the resignation of Jena alleging his involvement in a sex tape which has gone viral on social networking sites.
The three-and-half-minute video uploaded on the social media features three persons.
"Bhubaneswar Mayor Anant Narayan Jena's presence is clearly visible in the video. Until it is proved that he is innocent, he must resign from his post," NSUI Odisha Unit President Itish Pradhan said.

He also alleged Jena's "involvement" in the death of an engineering student here.
"We strongly suspect that Jena is indirectly involved in the death of engineering student Rishi, who was actively involved in our party works," Pradhan said.
BJP MLA Rabi Nayak said the state govenrment should not try to shield Jena in this case and take action immediately.