Congress MLA-Collector face-off over ‘fund cut’ snowballs into controversy

The ongoing face-off between Congress’ Kantabanji MLA Santosh Singh Saluja and Bolangir Collector Chanchal Rana on Monday snowballed into a controversy with the staff of the Collectorate staging a protest by wearing black badges.

Alleging that the MLA misbehaved with the Collector, the administrative staff at the Bolangir Collectorate have decided to wear black badges as a mark of protest for the next three days.

“All the administrative officials and other staff will wear black badges protesting the incident and we will continue with our agitation for the next three days. We condemn the misbehaviour and attitude towards the Collector,” said Bolangir ADM, Mahendra Mahapatra.

It is pertinent to mention here that Congress MLA Santosh Saluja had entered into an argument with district Collector Chanchal Rana in a packed conference hall at the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) office in the district while attending the Zilla Parishad meeting on January 12.

In a video, the Congress legislator was seen accusing the Collector of slashing the funds being allocated for various development schemes in different blocks in Kantabanji constituency.

Meanwhile, alleging that the district Collector is running the entire administration on his own terms, the Congress also staged demonstration at various places in Kantabanji Assembly constituency.

(Reported by Manoranjan Joshi)