Ex-chief secy Bijay Patnaik targets Odisha govt over ‘degraded governance’; BJD reacts

Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha chief secretary Bijay Patnaik, who joined the Congress on Friday, lashed out at the State government saying “being a mute spectator to the degraded Governance and Administration of these days is not possible anymore”.

However, the ruling BJD reacted to Patnaik’s remarks later in the day.

“People, who cast their votes, exercise their ‘right to franchise’ and bring a party to power, do not have any access to the machinery of the Government to ventilate their grievances at the time of distress. These days, everything is being operated from the Third Floor. What to speak of the public, in a State where mediapersons are even not allowed to enter into the secretariat? How the voices of common men will be heard by the Government?” the former chief secretary questioned.

“How can such a government be termed as a democratic one?” Patnaik further queried. “Prevalent close-door governance grossly reflects a kind of misrule in the State,” the former bureaucrat added.

Moreover, Odias are now being neglected in their own land. This is why youths from several districts of Odisha work as migrant labourers. A change in the existing political system and the typical way of governance has become inevitable, Patnaik told in the press conference held here today.

On the other hand, BJD issued a press release stating  that Patnaik has not been speaking the voice of the Congress party; rather, he is speaking the voice of the BJP. Everyone knows very well that the former bureaucrat was keen to join politics and stay close to power after his superannuation.

Patnaik was interested to become a member of the Parliament (Rajya Sabha), claimed BJD spokesperson Dr Lenin Mohanty.