BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s Mayurbhanj Collector Vineet Bhardwaj and superintendent of police (SP) B Gangadhar have landed in the soup after wearing T-shirts with the logo of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during a programme in Baripada on Sunday.
Taking serious note of it, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha member Aparajita Sarangi on Monday slammed the Collector and SP. She took to her X handle and described the incident as “very unfortunate” and “ridiculous.” “Very unfortunate as well as ridiculous! Collector, Mayurbhanj, Odisha! Degeneration of official standards to this extent. These officials must know that the season does not remain the same always (sic),” she wrote.
She also retweeted the post of an X user asking the IAS Association if any Collector can attend a political meeting while he or she is on duty.
“We Odia people are seeing a new variety of Indian law in Odisha (sic),” read the post.
Notably, the Collector and the SP took part in the marathon organised during an event in Baripada. There, they were spotted wearing T-shirts with the picture of the CM.
Collector Vineet Bhardwaj defended his action of donning the CM-logo T-shirt saying, “It was an official marathon race.”
Lawmaker Aparajita Sarangi has been very critical of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s private secretary V K Pandian and some other bureaucrats who she said were behaving like members of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
“There are four to five officers here in Odisha who have been working as members of a political party, thus crossing the boundaries of ethics. They are blatantly violating the rules of All India Service Conduct Rules,” she said.
In fact, the BJP has been targeting the Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik for “delegating” power to his private secretary to run the day-to-day administration and look after the organization affairs of the BJD.
