Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Saturday asked Kendrapara MP Baijayant Jay Panda to desist from commenting on party affairs on social networking sites, particularly at a time when complaints against him are being probed by the party at the behest of its president Naveen Patnaik.

Kendrapara district party observer Pramila Mallick, who is looking into the complaints against Panda from his constituency, met Naveen late in the evening and submitted her three-page report. Mallick told reporters that she had spoken to all stakeholders, including Panda, and submitted her report.

Party spokesperson Pratap Deb said: "Once the party president has made his stand clear and ordered an inquiry, there should not be any discussion on the issue. Panda should refrain from posting his views on social networking sites. The inquiry is on, and the party president will go by the report. Any attempt to influence through postings on social sites will not yield any result."

Deb's remarks came in response of postings and tweets by Panda in the past three days after grassroots-level BJD workers and leaders complained to Naveen that the MP had been neglecting the party's interest.

Panda, on the other hand, had been targeting a particular bureaucrat, considered close to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik for orchestrating the campaign against him.

Naveen has asked Mallick and Usha Devi, party observers for Kendrapara and Cuttack districts, respectively, to look into the complaints.

Kendrapara district BJD president Dhruba Sahoo asked the MP to stop being "childish" by posting his views on social media on party affairs.

However, Panda continues to use the social media to target the chief minister's office.

In a tweet, he said: "I hold no grudges against my party colleagues & ofc bearers who are making strange (& easily disproved) complaints agnst me. Evry1 in Odisha knows who the villain is, the babu who now controls the party & is armtwisting them. I'm fighting for their, my & Odisha's self respect."

Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, too, targeted the chief minister's office on Saturday.

He said former minister Damodar Rout was dropped from the council of ministers because he had raised issues of corruption pertaining to the chief minister's office.

Deb said: "The Prime Minister's Office and the chief minister's office have their own styles of functioning. Their officers carry out the orders only. Pradhan should maintain the stature of a cabinet minister and should not stoop to such low and bring charges against officials."

However, a controversy has erupted over what appeared to be the screenshot of Mallick's mobile phone.

It shows that after having made a few calls to Panda, she calls up a particular bureaucrat in the chief minister's office.

In a tweet, Panda had remarked: "there is something fishy."

Mallick admitted to have spoken to the officer concerned but not about the MP.