A political storm erupted in Odisha after footage surfaced showing Chikiti MLA Manoranjan Dyan Samantara purportedly attempting to embrace and kiss an unidentified man during a live ministerial press briefing on the state flood crisis.
Local outrage flared instantly. The opposition Biju Janata Dal seized on the visual, launching an aggressive digital offensive against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as floodwaters battered Ganjam district. In response, the lawmaker's family pushed back with a fierce counterattack, claiming deepfake manipulation.
Mina Dyan Samantara, wife of the first-term legislator, lodged a public plea urging Berhampur police to prosecute political rivals for circulating what she called synthetic media engineered to ruin her husband's standing.
The incident traces back to Thursday, November 12, when Odisha Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallik addressed journalists regarding escalating flood conditions. Standing directly behind the minister, Samantara was seen on camera leaning toward an adjacent male colleague.
Visuals from the briefing spread across social channels within hours. The BJD's official apparatus moved quickly to amplify the footage, contrasting the legislator's conduct with the dire situation across the district.
“Ganjam has been swept away by the floods... BJP leaders are jumping for joy,” the BJD wrote in an attack published on X.
The Chikiti seat, which Samantara captured in his maiden Assembly election victory in 2024, sits squarely within the flood-impacted belt, intensifying public scrutiny over the footage.
Mina Dyan Samantara contested the authentic visual record, releasing alternate footage that she asserted captured the unedited sequence. According to her account, the MLA was merely listening attentively to Minister Mallik before political adversaries tampered with the recording.
In a formal digital statement directed at local law enforcement, she explicitly named the BJD’s regional unit as the source of the altered video.
This is the real video of chikti MLA @DyanSama in which he is patiently listening to the minister but the bjd chikti social media had made AI video and made chikti MLA offended in social media. Being wife of @DyanSama, I request @SP_BRAHMAPUR to take strict action against these goons.
Mina Dyan Samantara, Statement on X
The complaint demands immediate criminal proceedings from the Berhampur Superintendent of Police against administrators managing opposition social media accounts.
Berhampur police officials have yet to confirm the registration of a formal First Information Report as cyber forensic teams assess the source files.