Bhubaneswar: City Major Sulochana Das took a jibe at Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi over her absence at the Odisha capital’s Foundation Day celebration here on Sunday.
The capital city’s foundation was laid by first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on this day in 1948.
“It seems the party is more important for her than the people of her constituency. Bhubaneswar is celebrating its 77th Foundation Day today. This is an auspicious day. She could have gone for the party’s training programme in Puri after attending the event here,” Das told reporters.
The Mayor further stated that the MP was extended an invitation. “She complains about not being invited to the event, but skips it on some pretext or the other,” she added.
Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy graced the event.
In the past, Aparajita had made her displeasure public and questioned the previous BJD government for not inviting her to the grand celebrations of Rajdhani Pratistha Diwas. She also took up the matter with the then CM Naveen Patnaik. “Not extending an invitation to an elected MP on Capital Foundation Day, is an expression of huge disrespect for a constitutional post. This is what Sanskar is all about. The matter deserves quick inquiry and fixation of responsibility,” she wrote.