While the preparation for the Orissa Foundation Day is in full swing, the eastern state of India, is mired with deep political crisis. As speculated, Orissa Assembly Speaker, Maheshwar Mohanty has resigned following the criminal case filed against him for allegedly involving in the sex racket.

The Minister of Information and Public Relations, Debasis Nayak is pressurized by the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik to step down after the allegations made by the Speaker that Nayak was part of the conspiracy in the high profile Assembly Sex Scandal. It is apparent that Debasis Nayak will relinquish his post. The twist of events has led the Governor to declare adjournment of Orissa Assembly for sine die.

It is a great shame that Orissa is under political crisis due to the war between the Speaker and lady marshal over sexual harassment. It is the first of its kind, but a derogatory one.

The crisis seemed to reached its climax barely a few hours left for Utkal Divas, the time meant for joining hands by both ruling and opposition leaders for the development of Orissa. We don’t know when the Assembly will resume functioning. It is a self-killing melancholy, which raises the question of safety and security of women in Orissa.

The most important thing is now ensuring fair play of justice, which otherwise has been covered up in the highly sensitive cases involving political leaders.

The step down of Speaker and decision to remove the PR minister, are just immediate steps, which a ruling party, I mean Naveen-led coalition government is bound to initiate. What is important now is finding the truth behind the sex scandal.

Gayatri Panda, the first and only assistant woman marshal in the state assembly is in the limelight. For, she brought the allegation against the speaker; the allegation strongly declined by the later.

The first and foremost thing before determining the truth is to conduct a polygraph test with Gayatri Panda whether she is telling the truth specifically as she has raised this allegation while facing charges for frequent negligence in duty. An independent enquiry commission free from political influence should be inducted to investigate the matter. The political leaders who try to take a mileage out of this draconian incident should be dealt with swiftly.