Bhubaneswar: Alleging violation of code of conduct by a senior IFS Officer, the Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today demanded action against the Officer for allegedly helping BJP nominee for Sambalpur and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in this election.
Holding a press conference here, BJD National Spokesperson Sasmit Patra said the IFS Officer was serving as an OSD to Union Minister Shri Pradhan when he was holding the Petroleum Ministry from 2014 to 2019.
“Both Shri Pradhan and the IFS Officer have developed a close relation during the tenure. Now, the Officer, who is serving as the Consulate General of India, New York (USA), took one month leave and landed here at Sambalpur to support Pradhan,” Dr Patra alleged.
Stating such a scenario has never been witnessed in the history of Odisha till now, the BJD MP said, the Officer is providing entire back-end support to Pradhan and looking after his campaigning.
“We have filed a complaint petition before the Election Commission on April 24, 2024 against the IFS Officer for his misconduct and violation of poll norms. We had demanded an examination of his call records and movement,” Dr Patra said.
The BJD has also submitted a copy of the petition to the Ministry of External Affairs and Cabinet Secretary.
“We have written a letter for the second time to the Chief Election Commissioner on April 26, 2024 to the ECI. Till now, we have not received any reply to the petition by either of the Central authorities,” he said.
Later, on April 28, the BJD submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Odisha about the matter.
Alleging that this move of the senior IFS Officer is against the MCC and Peoples’ Representation Act, the BJD leader said, “Is the law different for the IFS Officer and Pradhan? Will the law take another turn, as he is very close to Union Minister Shri Pradhan.”
He informed me that the BJD will again move to the CEO against the IFS Officer today.