MP Aparajita reminds Odisha govt of invite snub, says city dwellers await reply

The row over Lok Sabha MP Aparajita Sarangi not being invited to Bhubaneswar foundation day celebration escalated further with the parliamentarian on Thursday again drawing the attention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to the issue. 

Taking to Twitter, Sarangi said the residents of the city (Bhubaneswar) were waiting for the response of the State government in connection with her omission from the Bhubaneswar foundation day event. The Odisha capital celebrated its 74th foundation day on Wednesday.  

Sharing a letter she shot off to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik yesterday, the former IAS officer hoped an early inquiry in the matter related to fixation of responsibility for non-invitation. 

“Reference to my letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik yesterday. I hope that the enquiry for fixation of responsibility for non- invitation will be conducted at the earliest. Residents of the City are waiting for the response of the State Govt. Will remind in a week's time, if not done,” she wrote.  

Speaking on the matter, State Information and Public Relations department Minister Raghunandan Das said, "If something (inappropriate) has happened, we will find out officially what exactly transpired and why such a thing happened. We will inspect the matter.” 

“Usually, we invite all during celebration of different functions. However, often we see many invitees skip the event. On occasions, even speaker of the function remains absent,” he added.