Govt does not believe in vindictive action: CM

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said his government does not believe in vindictive action against anybody even as Opposition parties accused the administration of punishing honest police officers for "not fulfilling the political agenda of the ruling party."

"We never hesitate to take action against anyone, however powerful he may be, if he is found guilty of any commission or omission.

"By the same token, my government does not believe in vindictive action against anybody, unlike the previous government and also unlike what we have witnessed in many other states," Patnaik said while replying to an adjournment debate on the law and order situation in the state.

The issue was debated in the Assembly where the Opposition Congress and BJP accused the state government of creating a group of police officers who dance to the tune of the ruling party leaders.

"While the officers are punished for not fulfilling the political agenda of the ruling party, a section of them are protected even if involved in heinous crimes," said Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra of the Congress.

Citing a case from his native district Balangir, he said, "A police officer in Balangir district has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman police officer. I have drawn the attention of Director General of Police (DGP) and the Chief Secretary, but no action has yet been taken against the erring officer."

The Congress leader alleged that the government did not take action against the police officer as he was instrumental in distribution of cash for the ruling BJD during the elections.

Senior BJP member and party's state president K V Singhdeo pointed out how the government refused to book former Kendrapara SP Satish Kumar Gajbhiye despite being found violating human rights several times.

The same officer has also been accused of police excesses at Namtara village in Kendrapara district, he alleged.

The Opposition leaders were critical of the police excesses on Belabahali villagers who had protested the location of a bridge.

Justifying his claim that a section of police officers were not obeying their seniors, Mishra said, "The DGP told me that the police force have been withdrawn from Keonjhar village as per information from Keonjhar SP. But in reality, the DGP's order was not carried out by the SP. The force remained at the village despite the order."

He said this instance was enough to prove that junior officers in Odisha Police do not obey their seniors.

"The law and order situation has been worsening in the state because the authority is engaged in dividing the officers," Mishra said.

The Chief Minister rejected the allegations and claimed the action of his successive governments have been appreciated by the people and they have continuously blessed the BJD government with increasing mandate.

"The faith and confidence of our people makes us more responsible to continue with our efforts in enforcing rule of the law, transparency and good governance," Patnaik said.

"The opposition parties, bereft of any issue of public interest, are making futile attempts to bring wild and baseless allegations just for the sake of keeping themselves politically relevant," he said.

Patnaik said though his government respected the views of the opposition in the highest tradition of Parliamentary democracy, their limited agenda to remain politically relevant should not be a hindrance to the larger issues of legislative processes for the welfare of the people of Odisha.

"The people of Odisha have clearly rejected the opposition for such motivated and self serving actions," the Chief Minister said.

The opposition members of both the Congress and BJP later staged a walkout expressing their displeasure over Speaker Niranj Pujari's action of allotting more time to the treasury bench MLAs.