By D.N. Singh
Making politics out of a trivial issue between the regional channel OTV and Odisha assembly should have been allowed to go down the record books as an ephemeral piece of happening in legislative process. However, by summoning the OTV managaing director Jagi Mangat to the assembly’s privilege committee, the office itself did the wrong to lend the issue an acuity it does not deserve.
Whether the assembly office bearer’s intended whisper, which obtained a note of audibility, was worth reporting or not ethical to be reported is completely within the purview of the speaker. But there were instances when in Parliament during the UPA rule, a leader was similarly heard while whispering to the speaker to adjourn the house (‘mamla tul pakad raha hai’, so lets adjourn). It was reported by the media and no heaven broke loose then.
In this case let’s look at the position maintained by Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati, whose astonishing reversal in posturing smacks of nothing but crafty double standard. That leaves a question whether Bahinipati was cajoled by the ruling party to initiate the privilege notice. If not then what provoked him for the second thought for coaxing the office of the assembly for summoning Mangat. Obviously, Bahinipati is not such a naive to be hoodwinked by others to trigger the privilege button. Who gave him the vanity to tease for a notice to the OTV MD?
Which looked more like a caricature on his part, unexpected from a lawmaker of any sound thinking or intellect.
Pretension do not help much. Sitting there like a disciplined pupil, if Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker K.V. Singh Deo could endure the questioning of Mangat by the privilege committee with stoical patience, what made him to resign from the committee today like a war-weary soldier? It was once his party, the BJP, which was lambasting the same channel for being a brief holder of the ruling party the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
No one in the media fraternity can forget the indisputable height OTV had scaled those days. However, at few occasions it ha rather chosen to remain as an alien entity during many crises confronted by the media.
