Sambalpur: The BJP today demanded judicial probe into violation of model code of conduct by the some political leaders and top senior bureaucrats and a series of political violence during panchayat polls perpetrated by the ruling party in the ongoing three-tier Panchayat polls in Odisha.
Briefing media persons here, BJP National President Suresh Pujari said the judicial probe is imperative since BJP and the ruling BJD have also levelled same charges.
“We demand that the state government should order a the judicial probe into the matter by a sitting judge with prior permission of the Supreme Court so that the proper action would be taken against the erring officials as well as the leaders who are indulged in poll irregularities,” he maintained.
“The allegations brought by these two parties are against four senior bureaucrats of the Chief Minister’s Officer (CMO) who have grossly violated the model code of conduct enforced by the State Election Commission (SEC) for the three-tier panchayat polls, the fifth and the last phase of which will be concluded on February 21. Besides the four officials, the ADG, Law and Order, and the district collectors also have also grossly violated the model code,” Pujari added.
The BJP leader also informed that these aforesaid officials were pressurising the subordinate staff to work for the ruling party. “If the chief minister has the guts, let him ask the police to verify the call records and the WhatsApp messages in the mobile phones of these aforesaid officials to ascertain the veracity,” Pujari challenged. We have submitted the WhatsApp messages of several officers to the SEC and urged the Commission to take stern action against them as per rules,” Pujari said.
Countering the statement of Pujari, BJD spokesperson Samir Das said the BJP should redress its grievances to the SEC if it has conclusive evidence against any official
He further said there is no truth in the statement of Pujari which has told the media. “The saffron party is trying to influence the people to vote in its favour in the fifth and final phase polling,” Das added.
Refuting the claims of the BJP leader the attempts are being made by some bureaucrats to tamper with the poll results, Das said the BJP should refrain from giving such fallacious statements to the media which are baseless.