BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik Takes A Swipe At Bureaucrats, Says Elected Reps Are Superior

Bhubaneswar: In another veiled attack on his own party, Odisha MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik of ruling BJD on Friday said the bureaucrats cannot be superior to elected representatives in a democracy.

Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of ‘Corporate Excellence Awards’ function organised by vernacular daily ‘Sambad’ in Bhubaneswar, Soumya said some bureaucrats in the state administration are behaving as superior to the elected representatives of the people.

“This approach of the administrators is unhealthy not only for the government but also the democracy. It cannot be acceptable. I do not support this,” said Soumya.

Earlier also, Khandapada MLA had taken potshots at BJD on several occasions. The BJD’s defeat in Dhamnagar byelction is a lesson for the party, he had told the media at the BJD’ foundation day silver jubilee function in Puri recently.

“Lord Jagannath has taught us a lesson. As the party goes on winning, it is not advisable to do whatever we want. The BJD won in Padampur bypoll because we had eschewed ego,” he had said.

Soumya had also questioned the efficacy of the state government’s 5T initiative and Mo Sarkar in the Assembly in April last year. “The 5T initiative is undermining the smooth functioning of the departments. It is creating separatism among the departments and hampering their smooth functioning,” he said while raising the issue during question hour.

He expressed concern that it may affect the transparency and efficiency of departments in the future.