Bhubaneswar, Dec. 3: Minister Manmohan Samal, in a soup over an alleged sexual escapade, visited Orissa Nivas at least twice during his stay in New Delhi last month.

This startling revelation was made by none other than chief minister Naveen Patnaik who told the Assembly today that the revenue minister had indeed visited Orissa Nivas where a woman, a cultural activist, who has been linked to the controversy, was also staying.

Quoting a report of additional resident commissioner stationed at New Delhi, Naveen said Samal had put up in Orissa Bhavan from November 4 to 7. Following a request of the minister’s officer-on-special-duty, an additional room was allotted to the woman at Orissa Nivas — adjacent to Orissa Bhavan. The manager of Orissa Bhavan reported that the minister had visited Orissa Nivas during the period of his stay two to three times, Naveen said. However, no report of any untoward incident was received by the additional resident commissioner, he added.

Naveen dared the Opposition members to place any further evidence in possession of them. The Opposition, which had alleged that Samal had indulged in sexual escapades with Sanghamitra during his visit to New Delhi, has been stalling the Assembly proceedings for the past five days demanding Samal’s resignation and a statement from Naveen on the alleged incident. The Opposition forced three adjournments for more than an hour over the issue today.

Making a statement in the House under Opposition pressure, Naveen said several Opposition members had alleged that certain “untoward” incidents involving Samal had taken place at Orissa Nivas early last month.

Deputy leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said Naveen had tried to avoid the issue. Such kind of allegation was also levelled against Samal in 2004 and a criminal case was pending in Dhamnagar police station. A few local newspapers also published reports claiming that Samal had questionable relations with five women.