The omission of Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi’s name from the guest list of the Odisha government sponsored-Bhubaneswar Foundation Day celebration event on Wednesday seems to be snowballing into a major controversy.
Sarangi, a BJP parliamentarian on Wednesday attracted the attention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while demanding an enquiry into the incident.
Expressing her deep displeasure, Sarangi wrote, “I am pained to bring to your kind knowledge that today i.e., 13th April 2022, a public function was organized by the State Government and all public representatives of Bhubaneswar city and beyond had been duly invited by the State Government. However, I had not been invited by the State Government to attend the function. Neither the invitation card has my name nor have I been spoken to by anybody in the State Government.”
“Sir, most respectfully I would like to remind that I am the elected member of Lok Sabha from Bhubaneswar Parliamentary Constituency. As a public representative of the capital, it is my 'right' to be invited to the public function which had been organized by the State Government today,” she wrote in the letter.
Demanding an enquiry into the incident Sarangi wrote, “Our political ideologies may be different, but you may kindly agree with me that the State Government needs to learn to extend minimum courtesy to the people's representatives."
The BJP leader also mentioned, "As it does not seemed to be an innocuous omission, I would sincerely request you to get this issue of omission enquired into. I humbly expect that the concerned State Authorities will be directed by you to enquire into the matter and find out the person /persons responsible for the omission.”
Earlier in the day, taking to the micro-blogging site Twitter, the Parliamentarian had expressed dissatisfaction over the development. She asked the State government what was her fault for her exclusion from the invitees' list.
April 13 is celebrated as Bhubaneswar Capital Foundation Day every year. A public function is organized by the State Government with participation of all to mark the day.
It was on this day in 1948, the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone for the city.
Bhubaneswar is one of modern India’s first planned cities, designed by German architect Otto Konigsberger in 1946. The State capital city of Odisha and also known as the ‘Temple City’, it is a confluence of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain heritage and includes several ancient temples.