Bhubaneswar: Chairperson of Deogarh Municipality Santi Manjari Dei has been removed from the post for having failed to discharge her duties and disobeying guidelines issued by the Odisha government.
“After careful consideration of inquiry report of the District Magistrate & Collector, Deogarh, the explanation offered by the Chairperson of the said Municipality and after giving her an opportunity of personal hearing on January 22, 2025, the State Government is satisfied that she wilfully violated the provisions of the said Act and the rules thereunder, disobeyed the guidelines issued by the Government, seriously failed to discharge her duties as a Chairperson and acted in contravention of provisions of the Odisha Municipal Act, rules and guidelines,” read the official notification issued by Housing & Urban Development Department on January 28.
In 2022, Dei won the Chairperson post in the old municipality by defeating her nearest rival Madhabi Devi of BJP by a narrow margin of 428 votes. The BJP lost the post despite having more councillor seats in Deogarh and it was attributed to the then Sambalpur MP Nitesh Gang Dev’s wife Arundhati Kumari Devi alleged clandestine support to the BJD candidate.
