Bhubaneswar: After the Centre’s communication to Odisha Chief Secretary on alleged violation of conduct rules by an IAS officer, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday sharpened its attack on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his secretary.
Mounting a scathing attack on the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, senior BJP leader and opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi said the Chief Minister should take action against 5T secretary for allegedly working against democratic norms.
Stating that the Chief Minister should either suspend or dismiss the officer at the earliest, Majhi said if no action is taken, BJP will draw the attention of the Centre in this regard and seek action.
The way the officer is unleashing assault on democracy in the name of 5T secretary is deplorable, he said, claiming that the officer is even trying to enjoy the powers of the CM by blatantly ignoring the role of the elected representatives.
“Therefore, the Chief Minister must act immediately if he wants to save democracy,” the BJP leader said.
If the CM is not in a position to travel and undertake field visits, he can always depute his cabinet ministers and the chief secretary to different parts of the state.
Dismissing the claims made by the opposition, senior BJD leader and Food and Consumer Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said there is nothing wrong if the 5T secretary visits different places to ensure speedy development.
“People are very happy with the performance of our government,” he said, adding that the visits are undertaken at the direction of the Chief Minister. Apart from 5T secretary, others including Ministers and senior officers are also visiting different places to ensure accelerated development, he said.
Countering the Minister, Majhi said Nayak appears to be ignorant of service conduct rules and basic concepts of democracy.
Majhi’s attack comes a day after BJP MP from Bhubaneswar Aparajita Sarangi on Tuesday said that the Centre has taken cognisance of the violation of Conduct Rules by an officer.
“Based on clear evidence of violation, DoPT has asked Chief Secretary to take action as state is the cadre-controlling authority. Hope law will be allowed to take its course,” she tweeted while sharing a copy of the letter.
The order has been issued on the basis of a complaint filed by the Bhubaneswar MP and Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal, who had also submitted video, CD and pen Drive on the alleged violations of the Conduct Rules by the officer.
Meanwhile, Odisha Congress campaign committee chairman Bijay Patnaik has also written to Centre, demanding appropriate measures over alleged ‘violation’ of AIS Conduct Rules by 5T Secretary.
